Accused are members of IRA "guerilla army", senior garda tells trial

At the Special Criminal Court, a Detective Chief Superintendent presented evidence regarding two men charged with membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army in connection with the fatal shooting of Peter Butterly in March 2013. Laurence Murphy, aged 62, of Bettystown, County Meath, and Ray Kennedy, aged 40, of Blanchardstown, Dublin, have both pleaded not guilty to the membership charge. Mr Kennedy faces the additional charge of perverting the course of justice. Detective Chief Superintendent Anthony Howard, head of the Special Detective Unit, told the three-judge panel of his belief that both men were members of the IRA operating as a guerilla army. When questioned, he declined to reveal the basis of his belief, citing security concerns and the protection of life and property. This refusal to disclose details reflected the sensitive nature of the investigation into the dissident republican threat. The victim, Peter Butterly, aged 35, was shot in a car park at the Huntsman Inn in Gormanston, County Meath, shortly after 2pm on 6 March 2013. The court has heard evidence of a text message sent from a phone linked to Mr Kennedy to the victim's wife approximately seventeen minutes before the killing, and that the two men had arranged to meet at the location that afternoon. Earlier in the trial, a protected witness stated the shooting was an IRA operation and that he had been asked to dispose of a firearm immediately afterwards. Four men have previously received life sentences for Mr Butterly's murder, with two others also convicted of roles in the killing.