Non-jury court to deliver verdict in trial of IRA accused arrested in connection with murder of NI prison officer

A three-judge panel at the Special Criminal Court has delivered its verdict in the trial of Vincent Banks, a Dublin man charged with membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army. The 47-year-old, from Smithfield Gate Apartments in Dublin 7, pleaded not guilty to the charge but was found guilty following proceedings that examined his alleged involvement in purchasing a vehicle connected to a serious cross-border incident. The prosecution case centred on Banks' purchase of a Toyota Camry in October 2012 under an assumed name. The vehicle was subsequently used in the fatal shooting of David Black, a 52-year-old Northern Irish prison officer, on 1 November 2012 as he travelled to Maghaberry prison on the M1 near Lurgan. The car was later recovered burnt out in a ditch near Carrigallen, County Leitrim, with forensic evidence including firearm cartridges recovered from inside. The evidence against Banks included a thumbprint on the vehicle's registration document, signed under a false name, and an ordnance survey map of County Leitrim found bearing his fingerprints, with the Leitrim page removed. A local resident had reported observing a matching black Toyota Camry parked near her home in Carrigallen shortly after the vehicle's purchase. The defence argued that purchasing a car alone did not constitute activity uniquely associated with unlawful organisation membership. Justice Isobel Kennedy, sitting with Judge Gerard Griffin and Judge Gerard Haughton, accepted the prosecution evidence and convicted Banks of the offence. The verdict has significant implications for cross-border security matters and the investigation into Black's death. Banks subsequently received a five-year prison sentence in October 2017.