Man who arranged to meet dissident on day he was murdered goes on trial

Ray Kennedy, aged 40, pleaded not guilty at the Special Criminal Court to perverting the course of justice in connection with the March 2013 killing of dissident republican Peter Butterly in County Meath. The State alleged that Kennedy deliberately destroyed a mobile phone SIM card on 6 March 2013, the day Butterly was shot dead in the carpark of the Huntsman Inn at Gormanston. Kennedy had arranged to meet Butterly that afternoon and arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting occurred. Prosecutors contended that Kennedy's phone had been in contact with a burner device connected to the murder, and that destroying the SIM card was intended to obstruct the garda investigation into the killing. The SIM card was described as evidentially significant to the inquiry. The trial, conducted before a three-judge panel at the Special Criminal Court, was expected to last between four and five weeks, with Kennedy attending proceedings remotely. The case formed part of the broader investigation into Butterly's death. Four men had already received life sentences for the murder, whilst two others were imprisoned for their roles in the killing. The trial was one of several prosecutions arising from the incident. During proceedings, Kennedy's defence argued that he had arranged to meet Butterly regarding an illicit matter and had panicked upon encountering gardaí at the scene, leading him to destroy the device. The State rejected this account, maintaining Kennedy's actions were calculated and deliberate. The three-judge court, presided over by Justice Tony Hunt alongside Judges Gerard Griffin and Flann Brennan, was tasked with determining whether the prosecution had proven the charge beyond reasonable doubt. The trial represented a significant element of the continuing judicial response to the 2013 murder investigation.