Judgment reserved in Alan Harte’s Special Criminal Court conviction appeal

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

The Court of Appeal reserved judgment on Alan Harte’s challenge to his Special Criminal Court conviction on 28 July 2025. Mr Justice John Edwards presided.

Harte was convicted of falsely imprisoning and causing serious harm to Kevin Lunney at Drumbrade, Ballinagh, Co Cavan, on 17 September 2019. He had pleaded not guilty to false imprisonment and intentionally causing serious harm. On 20 December 2021, Mr Justice Tony Hunt sentenced him to 30 years in prison.

At the July appeal hearing, Michael O’Higgins SC, for Harte, raised two grounds: whether the Special Criminal Court could deliver a majority verdict and whether it was entitled not to disclose whether its verdict was unanimous. Remy Farrell SC, for the State, said a jury represented a reasonable cross-section of society, while the judges of the Special Criminal Court did not, making them different concepts.

On 4 February 2025, the Court of Appeal ordered Harte to pay the State’s costs after he lost a separate appeal concerning the decision to try him in the Special Criminal Court. An undated report also said Harte and two other men had failed in a bid to overturn their convictions.