Teacher who was jailed after row over transgender pupils and refusing to 'call a boy a girl' is 'RELEASED from prison after his punishment is deemed to be having no effect'
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Irish teacher Enoch Burke, who was jailed for a third time in September after he was involved in a transgender row over him refusing to 'call a boy a girl', has reportedly been released from prison after his punishment was deemed to be ineffective. The Evangelical Christian had been jailed for contempt of court in September after defying a High Court injunction banning him from the grounds of Wilson's Hospital School in County Westmeath, Ireland.
![[Mr Burke was seen engaging in a lengthy conversation with gardai outside the school gates before he was arrested in September]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/20/13/89219335-14213963-Mr_Burke_was_seen_engaging_in_a_lengthy_conversation_with_gardai-a-19_1734703194973.jpg)
But Mr Burke has now been released after Justice David Nolan ruled that jailing him for contempt did not have the 'coercive effect desired', the Irish Independent reports. Instead of imprisonment, Mr Burke will now receive a daily fine of €1,400 (£1,100) for each day he defies the order to stay away from the school grounds.
![[Former History and German teacher Enoch Burke seen outside Wilson's Hospital School in January 2023, violating their court order to stay away]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/09/02/23/78814187-13806003-Former_History_and_German_teacher_Enoch_Burke_seen_outside_Wilso-m-6_1725316762229.jpg)
A similar €700 (£550) daily fine imposed on Mr Burke last year proved ineffective, as the teacher never paid the fines and lawyers for the school voiced concerns that there was no mechanism to collect the unpaid fines from Mr Burke. The judge said if Mr Burke breaches the injunction again once the school reopens in January, the Attorney General and the Department of Finance should come before the court to determine a mechanism to use his salary to directly pay the fine.
![[Mr Burke pictured at Wilson's Hospital School gate in 2023. He has repeatedly defied a High Court injunction banning him from the school's grounds]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/09/02/23/89203215-13806003-Mr_Burke_pictured_at_Wilson_s_Hospital_School_gate_in_2023_He_ha-a-20_1725314490693.jpg)
Mr Burke became caught up in a transgender row in May 2022, when he told his headteacher that he 'opposed transgenderism' due to his religious beliefs. He stated that he would not address a student, who was transitioning, by their new name and with 'they' pronouns and publicly criticised the school's 'demand' that he use the student's chosen pronouns.
![[Irish teacher Enoch Burke has been jailed for a third time after he was arrested outside the school that sacked him for refusing to 'call a boy a girl'. (Mr Burke pictured here arriving at the court of appeal in Dublin in February 2023)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/09/02/22/89203209-13806003-image-a-1_1725314207118.jpg)
