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A High Court judge has sentenced teacher Enoch Burke’s mother and sister to two weeks in jail each after finding them guilty of contempt of court.

Ammi and Martina Burke were not at the hearing when Mr Justice Brian Cregan delivered his judgment.

Enoch’s brother, Isaac, said his mother and sister were at their “place of employment” and Mr Cregan ordered gardai to arrest them immediately.

The Burke family has appeared in court multiple times in recent years during the dispute between Enoch Burke and the board of management of Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath, where he was a teacher.

The contempt of court charge was in relation to a hearing on February 20 during which both women were removed from court by gardai.

Mr Cregan said the hearing “descended into chaos” when they interrupted proceedings.

He said: “They both knew full well that they had no right of audience and no right to speak, yet they persisted in standing up in court and shouting and roaring at the top of their voices.”

Both women were given the opportunity to defend their actions during a hearing on February 25.

Martina Burke spoke for around 20 minutes and described her son as an “upright, genuine, sincere, godly teacher” and claimed he had been “denied his constitutional rights”.

Mr Cregan said: “It is clear that Mrs Burke believes that she has a right to shout at any judge at any time on whatever issue she wants, irrespective of whether it disrupts court proceedings or not.”

In her defence, Ammi Burke said she “won’t sit silently by while my brother’s constitutional rights are being denied”.

But Mr Cregan said: “Nothing she said could amount to a justification of defence or explanation for her behaviour”.

Delivering his judgment, Mr Cregan said it was “long past time for the court to call a halt to this family circus”.

He also said, as a solicitor, Ammi Burke had “lost sight” of her professional and ethical duties to the court “some time ago”, and he would send papers to the Law Society’s disciplinary committee to consider if it should open an investigation into her conduct.

Mr Cregan also said the two women and Isaac Burke should be banned from attending future court hearings relating to Enoch Burke in person. They may only attend remotely.

In 2022, Enoch Burke was asked by the Co Westmeath school’s then-principal to address a student by a new name and pronoun.

The Burke family has repeatedly argued that the direction was unconstitutional and went against Mr Burke’s right to express his religious beliefs.

He has been imprisoned for more than 600 days over contempt of court relating to breaches of orders not to trespass at the school.