IRA man who threatened accident victim to withdraw claim loses appeal

A Dublin man has lost his appeal against conviction for membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army. The Court of Appeal dismissed all grounds of appeal by Ciaran Maguire (32), who was sentenced to four years and 11 months imprisonment following his conviction by the Special Criminal Court in May 2018. Maguire and his co-accused Kevin Braney (46) were convicted of membership following an incident in July 2017 when they travelled to County Meath and threatened an accident victim, warning him they were members of the IRA and would shoot him if he did not withdraw an insurance claim against his former employer. On appeal, the court upheld the lawfulness of Maguire's arrest, the admissibility of surveillance evidence, and the inferences drawn from his interview with gardaí. The appellate judges found that court interventions during cross-examination of a key witness were not unfair. The appeal was dismissed.