Courts / Dublin / Report

Secret recordings from Kinahan investigation should be excluded, conspiracy trial told

Date
2019-10-24

Stage
Charge Or Pretrial

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

In a conspiracy‑to‑murder trial, a defence barrister argued that secret recordings from listening devices placed on cars by Gardaí investigating the Kinahan cartel should be excluded because the evidence lacks a "missing link." The accused, Liam Brannigan, 37, is charged with conspiring to murder Gary Hanley between 15 September and 6 November 2017 and has pleaded not guilty. The court had heard from Detective Superintendent William Johnson about the deployment of devices on a Seat car on 31 August 2017 for 12 hours and a white Volkswagen caddy van on 13 September 2017 for just under 14 hours, approvals made under Section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009. The defence contended that no notes were taken of the phone calls that authorised the bugging, and that the officers had no evidence of the required state of mind.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Secret recordings from Kinahan investigation should be excluded, conspiracy trial told. Charges or matters: conspiring to murder Gary Hanley at a location within the State between September 15th and November 6th, 2017. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial

When:

September 15th Hearing Or Sentence
November 6th, 2017 Hearing Or Sentence
October 2017 Hearing Or Sentence
August 31st, 2017 Hearing Or Sentence
September 13th, 2017 Hearing Or Sentence
September 1st, 2017 Hearing Or Sentence
September 14th, 2017 Hearing Or Sentence
2019-10-24 Publication

Why: Secret recordings from listening devices placed on cars by gardai investigating the Kinahan cartel should be excluded from a conspiracy to murder trial because there's a "missing link" in the evidence, a barrister has told a court. CNI source report