Courtroom was silent in expectation
THERE wasn’t a sound in court number three on Sunday night as the minutes ticked by to the hearing which saw the first person charged with the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe on January 25, 2013.
The Detective Garda was fatally shot during an armed robbery at Lordship Credit Union.
Sitting quietly, the accused 27-year-old Aaron Brady, New Road, Crossmaglen looked straight across the courtroom to the empty jury box as he was charged under Section three of the Criminal Justice Act of 1990 of murdering a Garda in the course of his duties.
Such a crime, previously carried a death penalty, but that was abolished by law in 1990 before being removed from the Constitution by referendum in 2001.
The courtroom was packed with local and national media, but the public benches were jammed with members of An Garda Siochana, colleagues of the late Detective Donohoe, as well as members from Homeland Security in the United States.
Sitting in the front row was the Detective’s wife, Caroline who was accompanied by Detective Sergeant Darren Kirwan, who played football for St Patrick’s GFC alongside his close friend.
Shortly before 8pm Ms Donohoe had arrived to the courthouse with Detective Sergeant Kirwan, entering via the Crowe Street entrance where she was greeted with hugs by a number of local detectives who had been involved in the murder investigation since 2013.
Not long afterwards, there was a klaxon of sirens and strobbing blue lights as the Garda escort arrived at the courthouse, entering via the rear gates which denied the awaiting press and TV cameras their opportunity to get images of the accused.
There was pregnant silence in the courtroom as all those gathered awaited the proceedings to commence.
Mr Brady sat with his solicitor and they briefly adjourned to a consultation room with counsel before resuming their seats.
At 8.28pm the court rose as Judge John Coughlan left his chambers and the short hearing commenced.
Just six minutes later the hearing was concluded and Judge Coughlan retired.
As the accused was led out of the courtroom, those gathered took stock, with the media checking the precise details of the charge and the names of the legal team representing Mr Brady.
As everyone absorbed what they had just witnessed, brief greetings were exchanged between media, Gardai and some members of the public in the courtroom.
Outside a small crowd had gathered as they awaited the departure of the accused from the courthouse and shortly before 9pm the Garda escort emerged from the rear entrance to the court and with sirens blazing and lights strobbing they departed on route to Cloverhill Prison.