Vincent Banks' IRA membership arrest ruled unlawful

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

Vincent Banks’ arrest for suspected IRA membership was ruled unlawful by the Special Criminal Court on 19 March 2014. The ruling concerned his arrest for membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA, in connection with the David Black murder case.

The court found that Mr Banks had previously been arrested over alleged membership and released without charge, making the later arrest without a warrant unlawful. It ruled that his detention, its extension and search warrants for two premises remained lawful. Mr Banks had pleaded not guilty to withholding information and the trial continued.