Court orders public exclusion during surveillance evidence in murder trial
This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.
On 16 October 2014, the Special Criminal Court ordered the public’s exclusion during National Surveillance Unit gardaí’s testimony in the murder trial of Edward McGrath, Dean Evans and Sharif Kelly. The proceedings were reported on 16 October 2014. Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy presided alongside judges Cormac Dunne and Margaret Heneghan.
The three men have pleaded not guilty to murder. Dean Evans and Edward McGrath have also pleaded not guilty to firearm offences. The charges concern the Huntsman Inn in Gormanston, County Meath, on 6 March 2013, when Peter Butterly was shot dead in its car park.
The court ordered the officers’ names and addresses to be given to the defence, with publication restricted. The DPP had sought anonymity for 11 officers and a screen shielding them from public view. A senior garda said the applications concerned the safety of officers and their families and future surveillance operations.
Defence lawyers sought information bearing on prosecution witness David Cullen’s reliability and credibility. The court was not minded to order disclosure of his psychiatric records, but directed access to his seized laptop and hard drive for a professional expert chosen by the defence.
It deemed disclosure of notes made between David Cullen and his legal advisers before he became a prosecution witness premature. Any undisclosed garda information about interactions with him and his solicitor relating to his decision to become a prosecution witness had to be supplied, if it existed.
The court upheld Det Chief Supt John Gilligan’s privilege claim over a Garda Headquarters directive concerning the witness protection programme, while keeping David Cullen’s forthcoming application to the programme under review.
It ordered disclosure of whether David Cullen had been a garda informant, and PULSE records concerning him and Sharif Kelly, except details of ongoing garda operations. It declined disclosure of miscellaneous records concerning David Cullen, including social welfare, motor tax, passport and insurance claim records.
David Cullen had pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a 9mm calibre Beretta model 9000s semi-automatic pistol. The offence occurred at the Huntsman Inn on 6 March 2013. He was jailed for three-and-a-half years in July. The DPP accepted his plea, and a nolle prosequi—a decision not to proceed—was entered on his murder count.
The court said it would provide reasons for its decisions the following day.