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'The most outrageous contempt of court': witness intimidation and interference in the Aaron Brady trial
Summary
During the capital murder trial of Aaron Brady, a video of a witness telling Gardaí that he heard Brady admit to shooting a cop was circulated on social media. The judge, Mr Justice Michael White, described the dissemination as "the most outrageous contempt of court" he had ever seen and noted he was powerless to prevent it. The video was posted on WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook, with the latter two platforms deleting it after it was shared. The case was marked by intimidation and interference: witnesses and their families received threats, including a death threat to Molly Staunton via Snapchat after her testimony. Five witnesses who had given Gardaí statements failed to appear in court or claimed their statements were inaccurate. The prosecution counsel, Brendan Grehan SC, warned that the WhatsApp message was part of a campaign to disrupt the trial and prevent witnesses from testifying.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: 'The most outrageous contempt of court': witness intimidation and interference in the Aaron Brady trial. Procedural stage: trial
When:
- June 2 Hearing Or Sentence
- April 24 Other
- April 8, 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
- April 14 Hearing Or Sentence
- June 24 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2020-12-23 Publication
Why: At the time, he couldn't even make an order telling people not to share the video because he would have to make the order public through the media which would alert the jury to the existence of the video. CNI source report
Case subjects
Defendant
Places mentioned
Topics
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