Lisa Smith’s bid to have terrorism charges dismissed rejected

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

The Special Criminal Court rejected an application by Lisa Smith to have the charges against her dismissed. On 24 January 2022, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said the case should proceed to trial and refused the application.

Smith, a former Defence Forces member, was accused of being a member of the unlawful terrorist group Islamic State between 28 October 2015 and 1 December 2019. She was also charged with financing terrorism by sending €800 in assistance to a named man via a Western Union money transfer on 6 May 2015.

The three judges heard the defence application under Section 4(e) of the Criminal Procedure Act 1967, as inserted by Section 9 of the Criminal Justice Act 1999. The proceedings were reported on 24 January 2022. The trial was due to begin the following morning.