Court archive
Court reports mentioning Derrylin, Fermanagh
2021-12-20 · Fermanagh
Kevin Lunney, a director of Quinn Industrial Holdings, gave evidence at the Special Criminal Court detailing his abduction and assault in County Fermanagh in September 2019. Mr Lunney described being forced into a vehicle, transported to a remote farmyard near Ballina, County Mayo, where he was beaten, slashed with a knife, and doused with bleach. He was later discovered on a roadside with a fractured shin, knife wounds, and hypothermia. The trial established that the attack was connected to Mr Lunney's directorship and litigation involvement. Three men were convicted: the court identified one as YZ, aged 40, Alan O'Brien, aged 40, and Darren Redmond, aged 27. Evidence included CCTV footage, mobile phone data, and DNA recovered from a vehicle used in the crime. Luke O'Reilly, aged 68, was acquitted after the court found insufficient evidence he knew the specific nature of the offences, despite ruling he likely provided local assistance. Mr Justice Tony Hunt described Mr Lunney as a decent man subjected to brutal violence intended to prevent him conducting lawful business.
2021-06-02 · Cavan
The Special Criminal Court has heard the opening of the trial of Luke O'Reilly, Darren Redmond, Alan O'Brien, and a fourth unnamed accused, all of whom pleaded not guilty to false imprisonment and intentionally causing serious harm to Kevin Lunney. The prosecution alleges that on September 17, 2019, Lunney was abducted from Co Fermanagh, driven to a site in Co Cavan, and assaulted by men acting on behalf of others. Lunney was allegedly threatened with death, forced to resign from Quinn Industrial Holdings, had his leg broken, and had his chest scored with a blade. The State contends that O'Brien, Redmond, and the unnamed accused directly participated in the offences, while O'Reilly provided material assistance by purchasing bleach to conceal evidence. Prosecution counsel Sean Guerin SC stated that the court will examine CCTV, DNA, and phone data linking the accused to a Renault Kangoo van containing Lunney's blood and Redmond's DNA. The trial, expected to last four months, will also address the admissibility of digital evidence. The matter is currently at the sentence stage, with the court proceeding to hear evidence from approximately 250 witnesses.
2019-03-27 · Tipperary
A forensic anthropologist giving evidence at the Central Criminal Court has expressed doubt that a fractured femur found on the remains of Bobby Ryan could have resulted from concrete debris falling during the body's removal from a tank. Dr Rene Gapert, examining bones retrieved from an underground run-off tank on a farm at Fawnagown, County Tipperary, identified human and animal remains among the fragments. He told the court the femur, being the body's strongest bone, was unlikely to have sustained such an injury from the falling concrete when gardaí used a digger to remove a slab covering the tank. Mr Ryan's body was discovered in April 2013, approximately 22 months after he went missing in June 2011. Patrick Quirke, aged 50, of Breanshamore, County Tipperary, has pleaded not guilty to his murder. The trial, before Justice Eileen Creedon and a jury, continues.