Accused in Garda case ‘wore killing like badge of honour’
A Co Armagh man was been described as a “skilled and practised liar” who wore the shooting of detective garda Adrian Donohoe “like a badge of honour”, the Central Criminal Court in Dublin has heard
Yesterday Lorcan Staines SC delivered the prosecution’s closing speech in the trial of Aaron Brady (29), who denies capital murder and robbery at Lordship credit union, Dundalk, on January 25, 2013.
He said the raid was carried out for a base criminal motive and that the gang was in pursuit of money through violence. Mr Staines said the accused was under financial pressure at the time of the robbery and told his girlfriend he was expecting money that weekend
Counsel said it was the prosecution’s case that the accused fatally shot Det Gda Donohoe from six to seven feet at “point blank” range and that he knew Adrian Donohoe was a garda acting in the course of his duty.
Mr Staines told the jury that Aaron Brady was a “skilled and practised liar” who had taken disclosure given to him to sculpt an alibi.
He described the prosecution’s case as an “overwhelmingly circumstantial” one together with the admissions from the mouth of the accused wrapped in a litany of lies.
The court was taken through CCTV footage from locations around Co Louth three nights before the murder when a Volkswagen Passat used in the robbery was stolen from Clogherhead. There was evidence that a car matching Suspect A’s vehicle, a BMW 5 Series, was captured on CCTV on Clogherhead main street that morning. Mr Staines told the jury it is not about the quality of the footage from that night, but rather the coincidence of the footage.
He said on the night of the murder phones belonging to Mr Brady and three other suspects were inactive an hour before and after the robbery.
Counsel added that, if this was an innocent occurrence, it would be an “extraordinary unusual and unlucky coincidence.”
Lorcan Staines also told the jury of the lies Mr Brady told – when giving a false account of his movements to Sgt John Moroney the day after the murder, when giving his voluntary statement to gardai 10 days later, and when giving evidence from witness box.
Mr Staines said there were “big lies, little lies, clever lies, stupid lies, but all the lies were for the same purpose — the advantage of Aaron Brady.”
He said there were also “other funny coincidences”. Within weeks of the robbery Mr Brady and three other suspects all left Ireland and travelled to “far flung corners of the world”.
The accused, he said, settled in the Woodlawn area of the Bronx which he thought would be a safe haven, working in construction and playing Gaa.
“He came to believe he was beyond the long arm of the law. As time went by his confidence grew and he wore the shooting of detective garda Adrian Donohoe like a badge of honour,” Mr Staines said.
The court heard there was evidence given from US citizen Molly Staunton who said she heard Aaron Brady admit to murdering a cop.
Counsel said that she was a witness with no animus, who was not motivated to lie, and that it would be “another extraordinary piece of bad luck” for the accused if Ms Staunton was mistaken. Lorcan Staines concluded that, if all of these strands of evidence were an enormous mistake, that it would be “some string of unfortunate events.”
The jury will hear closing speeches from the defence on behalf of Aaron Brady on Monday.