Gardai breaking law for 'years and years' by seizing phone data, Lunney trial told

Four men have pleaded not guilty at the Special Criminal Court to charges of falsely imprisoning and causing serious harm to Kevin Lunney, a director of Quinn Industrial Holdings, at Drumbrade, Ballinagh, County Cavan on 17 September 2019. During the trial, defence counsel Michael O'Higgins SC argued that gardaí have repeatedly breached the law by accessing mobile phone data in contravention of rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union. He submitted that evidence obtained through this unlawful process should be declared inadmissible. The defence further contended that garda applications for search warrants contained inadequate information and were disproportionate in scope. The prosecution, represented by Sean Guerin SC for the Director of Public Prosecutions, maintained that data collection constitutes a permissible interference with privacy rights when investigating serious crime. Mr Justice Tony Hunt is presiding, alongside Judge Gerard Griffin and Judge David McHugh. Submissions from the prosecution are continuing.