Colm Roddy acquitted of criminal damage at Shannon Airport

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

Colm Roddy was acquitted of unlawful criminal damage at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, reported on 23 October 2020. The case concerned alleged damage at Shannon Airport, where prosecutors said he and Dave Donnellan cut through a perimeter fence and painted crucifixes on the runway in May 2016. Both men had denied damaging the fence and runway without lawful excuse. After a nine-day trial, the jury returned unanimous not-guilty verdicts on both charges in less than two hours.

Roddy and Donnellan represented themselves and told jurors their actions were a protest against the use of Shannon by the US military. Judge Karen O’Connor directed that the prosecution had to disprove any lawful-excuse defence beyond reasonable doubt, and that the jury should assess whether each defendant honestly believed his actions were justified.