Courts / Dublin / Report

Supreme Court quashes IRA conviction after error in arrest procedure

Date
2022-02-10

Stage
Appeal

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

The Supreme Court quashed the conviction of Vincent Banks, a Dublin man in his early 50s, for being a member of the Irish Republican Army. The Court held that Banks' December 2012 arrest, made on suspicion of membership in an illegal organisation, was unlawful because it lacked a warrant required by the 1939 Offences Against the State Act. It also found that the prosecution's evidence was not strong enough to prove the offence beyond reasonable doubt. Banks had previously been arrested in September 2012 on the same suspicion but released without charge. The Special Criminal Court had convicted him in 2017 and sentenced him to five years' imprisonment. The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, allowed Banks' appeal and quashed the conviction, noting that the evidence presented did not meet the required standard of proof.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Supreme Court quashes IRA conviction after error in arrest procedure. Charges or matters: the offence arising out of his arrest on the 18th of December, 2012 as part of the Garda investigation into the November 2012 murder of Northern Ireland Prison Officer David Black in Co Armagh. Procedural stage: appeal. Findings: Convicted

When:

December 2012 Incident
November 2012 Incident
2022-02-10 Publication

Why: The five judge court ruled on Thursday that Mr Banks' appeal should be allowed because his arrest in December 2012 on suspicion of offences including being a member of an illegal organisation was not lawful. CNI source report

Case subjects

Vincent Banks

Appellant

Charges: the offence arising out of his arrest on the 18th of December, 2012 as part of the Garda investigation into the November 2012 murder of Northern Ireland Prison Officer David Black in Co Armagh (Proven)

Finding: Convicted

Outcome: Convicted; He was sentenced to five years in prison.