Courts / Dublin / Report

Surveillance gardai give evidence in absence of public in non-jury court trial

Summary

The Special Criminal Court has excluded the public during evidence from the Garda National Surveillance Unit in the ongoing trial of eight Dublin men. Kevin Braney, Des Christie, Eamon McNamee, Hubert Duffy, William Jackson, Declan Phelan, John Brock, and Darren Murphy all pleaded not guilty to the alleged charge of membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA on March 29th, 2013. The prosecution alleges that surveillance officers observed the accused at locations in Finglas and Clondalkin on that morning. Following their arrest by the Emergency Response Unit at a used car sales lot, the state claims gardai recovered items including a Glock pistol, balaclavas, and cable ties. During cross-examination, a detective invoked privilege regarding his location, citing operational security. The prosecution intends to rely on surveillance sightings, recovered items, and the defendants' responses to garda questioning, where some denied membership while others provided untrue answers. The court will hear opinion evidence from Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Kirwan. The matter is currently at the charge or pretrial stage, and the trial is continuing.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Surveillance gardai give evidence in absence of public in non-jury court trial. Charges or matters: membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA on March 29th, 2013. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial

When:

• March 29th, 2013 Incident
• 2015-01-29 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Charge Or Pretrial

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Read the original CNI report