Detectives deny offer to drop Peter Butterly murder charge

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

Detectives investigating the shooting of Peter Butterly denied that offers were made to drop a murder charge against David Cullen before he gave a statement. The proceedings were reported on 2 February 2017.

Peter Butterly was shot dead outside The Huntsman Inn, Gormanston, Co Meath, on 6 March 2013. Edward McGrath and Sharif Kelly have pleaded not guilty at the Special Criminal Court to his alleged murder. Edward McGrath has also pleaded not guilty to firearms offences on the same occasion.

A third accused, Dean Evans, failed to attend the trial and had not been located by gardaí. The court proceeded with his two co-accused in his absence. Their original trial collapsed after 55 days in January 2015, and a retrial was ordered.

The defence challenged the admissibility of evidence from David Cullen, originally also accused of the murder. Giollaíosa Ó'Lideadha SC, defending Sharif Kelly, suggested that Cullen and the DPP had agreed to drop the murder charge before Cullen gave his statement.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Maguire said Cullen’s solicitor contacted him on 6 June 2014 about making a statement. Detectives met the solicitor on 12 June and again on 24 June, later briefing the DPP’s office. Maguire said the solicitor sought immunity or indemnity from the murder charge, witness protection and financial assistance. He said “no commitment” was given and decisions about any deal were not made at his level.

Detective Sergeant Liam Archibald said he took Cullen’s statement at Midlands prison on 27 June 2014. He denied telling Cullen beforehand that he would not be prosecuted. Giollaíosa Ó'Lideadha suggested that a meeting at garda headquarters on 26 June anticipated dropping the murder charge and a guilty plea to a lesser charge. Archibald said it was a “possibility” that dropping the murder charge was discussed, but he was “not aware of the specifics”.

Presiding judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt asked prosecution lawyers for the date the DPP decided to drop Cullen’s murder charge. The evidence formed part of a voir dire to help the court’s three judges decide its admissibility. The trial continued before the non-jury court.