Colm Roddy and Dave Donnellan acquitted of criminal damage

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

Colm Roddy and Dave Donnellan were acquitted of criminal damage at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 23 October 2020.

Both men had pleaded not guilty to criminal damage without lawful excuse of the perimeter fence and runway at Shannon Airport on 5 May 2016.

After a nine-day trial, a jury of eleven men and one woman took just under two hours to return unanimous not-guilty verdicts on both charges.

The men were alleged to have cut through the airport fence and painted crucifixes on the runway. They told the jury their actions were a protest against the use of Shannon Airport by the US military.

Judge Karen O’Connor directed the jury on the defence of lawful excuse, saying it had to consider whether the defendants honestly believed their actions were justified. She said the prosecution had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the excuse they gave was not a lawful excuse.