Bid to halt Quinn director kidnapping trial rejected
Defence for four accused told there is no basis for adjournment
A BID to halt the trial of four men accused of falsely imprisoning and assaulting Quinn Industrial Holdings director Kevin Lunney has been rejected by judges at Dublin’s Special Criminal Court.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt rejected all four grounds of a pre-trial defence application to adjourn the 12-week trial, due to commence on January 11.
The judge also found the fact that a Renault Kangoo van went on fire from an electrical fault while in the possession of gardai was “immutable” and was not a sufficient basis for the case to be adjourned.
Sean Guerin SC, on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), previously told the court that one of the accused men, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had complained to the Garda Ombudsman that DNA was “planted” on a van he says was deliberately destroyed in a fire so it wouldn’t be made available to the defence. However, Mr Guerin said the fire began accidentally and the CCTV had been disclosed to the defence.
Luke O’reilly (66), from Kilcogy, Co Cavan; Darren Redmond (25), from Caledon Road, East Wall, Dublin 3; Alan O’brien (39), of Shelmalier Road, East Wall, Dublin 3, and the fourth accused man are all charged with false imprisonment and assault causing serious harm to Mr Lunney at Drumbrade, Ballinagh, Co Cavan on September 17, 2019.
Mr Lunney (50), was abducted close to his home in Co Fermanagh. His leg was broken, he was doused in bleach and the letters QIH were carved into his chest before he was dumped on a roadside in Co Cavan.
The defendants were sent forward for trial before the court last March.
Mr Justice Hunt, sitting with two other judges, said four separate grounds had been advanced by the defence. One concerned the status of the law on the retention and accessing of mobile phone data.
However, Mr Justice Hunt said the court did not perceive “sufficient flux and sufficient uncertainty” to justify an adjournment of the trial and it was up to the domestic courts to come to an assessment of the legality of the retention of phone data.
Refusing the defence application, he said there was no basis for adjourning the trial. The case was listed for mention on December 21 at 12.30pm.
FORMER Fermanagh billionaire Sean Quinn has given a High Court undertaking not to go on land operated by the company he once owned.
Mannok, formerly known as Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH), is seeking an injunction to prevent alleged trespassing at Doon Quarry in Co Fermanagh.
Proceedings got under way before Madam Justice Mcbride at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast. But a lawyer for Mr Quinn confirmed his client’s consent to an undertaking “basically not to go onto” the land.
Permission was sought to visit the area with Mr Quinn to check on routes taken through it.
“This is an extensive laneway that crosses Doon Mountain, and I’m not quite clear where the exact trespass occurred,” his lawyer added.
The judge cautioned against doi ng a nyt hi ng t hat c oul d heighten tensions.
Listing the injunction application for full hearing on January 28, she stressed: “There seems to be a lot of animosity between the parties, I don’t want anything to happen on the site that inflames the situation,” she said.