Liam Brannigan charged with conspiring to murder in CCTV trial

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

Liam Brannigan is on trial at the Special Criminal Court charged with conspiring to murder Gary Hanley at a location within the State between 15 September and 6 November 2017. He has pleaded not guilty. The proceedings were reported on 23 October 2019.

On 22 October, Brannigan’s legal team sought to exclude CCTV footage and audio recordings from a surveillance operation. Defence counsel Giollaiosa O Lideadha SC argued that gardaí had unlawfully turned Dublin’s CCTV infrastructure into a “de facto surveillance operation”. The defence also argued that the material breached Brannigan’s privacy rights.

The court had heard that gardaí collected 3,500 hours of CCTV footage from Dublin businesses and concealed listening devices in several cars. Seán Gillane SC, for the State, said when opening the trial that the prosecution would use the recordings to prove Brannigan was “fully knowing of the plot” to kill Hanley.

Responding on 23 October, Gillane argued that gardaí had a legal obligation to seize CCTV footage when investigating crime and that there was no evidence Brannigan’s privacy rights had been infringed.

The report said the trial was due to continue before Mr Justice Paul Coffey, presiding, alongside Judge Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin and Judge James Faughnan.