Charles McClean pleads guilty to impeding prosecution

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Charles McClean pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court on January 29 to impeding the apprehension or prosecution of another, knowing or believing that person guilty of the murder of Mark Desmond. The offence concerned Griffeen Valley Park, Lucan, Dublin, on December 2 2016; McClean had originally been charged with murdering Mr Desmond.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott remanded McClean in custody until February 6 for a sentence hearing and directed preparation of a victim impact report. His representatives also requested governor's and educational reports from Portlaoise Prison. The proceedings were reported on 29 January 2024.

McClean was already serving two consecutive sentences totalling 16.5 years for facilitating a criminal organisation and conspiring to murder Wayne Whelan. No sentence for the impeding charge had been imposed in the report.