Andrew Carey

andrew@limerickpost.ie

A KNIFE wielding thug targeted an elderly man and robbed him after inflicting a series of head injuries moments before gardai managed to effect an arrest of two males a short time after.

However, gardai in Mayorstone are still appealing for any witnesses who may have noticed anyone acting suspiciously in the area of Condell Road last Wednesday.

The incident happened on May 14 last when the elderly man was targeted at 8.45pm as he walked on Condell Road.

Anyone with information should contact Mayorstone Garda Crime Office on 061 456980.

Andrew Carey at Special Criminal Court, CCJ, Dublin

andrew@limerickpost.ie

CONVICTED killer, Anthony ‘Noddy’ McCarthy has told the trial of two men charged with the murder of Roy Collins that he heard Wayne Dundon tell the gun man to “go down and kill Roy Collins.”

Convicted of the murder of gang boss Kieran Keane in 2003, Anthony McCarthy has been serving life in prison since December of the same year and during that time, 36-year-old murder accused Wayne Dundon along with brothers Dessie and John were also in the Wheatfield jail.

McCarthy explained his daily routine in prison and how he met with the Dundon’s regularly.

Dundon and his 24-year-old co-accused Nathan Killeen deny any involvement in the murder of Roy Collins on April 9, 2009. This Wednesday, 32-year-old ‘Noddy’ McCarthy, a first cousin of the Dundon family, said he heard Wayne Dundon on the morning of the murder shouting on the phone in Wheatfield Prison.

“He said, ‘you better do this – you never do anything for us. You better do this or you and your mother will be sorry’ and then he hung up. He was hyper and when Wayne gets hyper it’s hard to understand him because he just goes off”, explained McCarthy.

Asked who he was shouting at, McCarthy said that Dundon told him he ordered James Dillion to carry out the shooting.

“He told me that he ordered James Dillion to go kill Roy Collins and said to Dessie ‘that fucking muppet Gareth Collins wouldn’t drive the car either’”.

McCarthy said that he returned to his cell and tried to think of ways of stopping the murder by alerting a family member to warn Steve Collins or to try and talk to Dessie Dundon to call it off.

He said he was conscious of “public outcry, just like after the murder of Shane Geoghegan”.

When he asked Dundon later that day, McCarthy said he heard Dundon speak to his fellow criminal brother Dessie in the prison hallway in the wake of the murder saying that “Steve Collins didn’t believe me” before turning to McCarthy saying “as for being shot in the leg, he’s dead.

In his evidence that lasted less than 15 minutes, Noddy McCarthy said that he wrote a letter to gardai in 2011 outlining what he knew of the murder but did not name anybody and instead used letters to identify persons involved.

Dressed in a white check shirt, black puffa jacket and black combat pants, McCarthy looked over in the direction of Dundon and Killeen when he was brought into the high security court room.

Dundon grinned and laughed to Killeen at Anthony McCarthy as the three first met for the first time in the Criminal Courts of Justice buildings in Dublin this Wednesday.

AN IRISH international kickboxer has been jailed for two years after he was caught “red handed” with a bag of cannabis following a high speed chase on a motorbike reaching speeds of over 200kmph.

Emmett Flannery (28), of Sheep Street, was arrested after traffic corps Gardaí followed him as he travelled at high speed on the M20 near Patrickswell on June 4, 2012.

As he approached his home, he threw a bag over a fence into waste ground. Gardaí retrieved the bag that contained almost half a kilo of cannabis with an estimated street value of €10,000.

During the sentencing hearing last week, Judge Carroll Moran was told that Flannery was not the owner of the drugs but a “courier acting under threat” over a drug debt he was struggling to pay off.

Gardai said that while he was cooperative, he refused to identify the owners of the drugs or those who directed him to carry out the delivery.

The case had been adjourned for a year to allow Flannery complete rehabilitation for a drug addiction and when he appeared before Judge Carroll Moran last week, the court was told that he had completed an extensive period of treatment.

However, Judge Moran adjourned sentencing for a further five days to consider the matter.

When the case resumed on Tuesday, Defence Counsel, Mark Nicholas BL said his client had been in custody for the previous five days. It was a frightening time and gave him a major wake up call.

His client was an international kick boxer at the peak of his fitness and Mr Nicholas asked that he get a second chance so he could avail of the support for his family as he had a good history and further prospect of work.

However, Judge Moran said that despite the “powerful mitigating factors”, a custodial sentence was warranted. He was caught red-handed and the manner of his driving was reprehensible.

Stating that storemen and couriers were an essential cog in drug dealing, he imposed a two year prison sentence, remarking that Flannery was caught with a “very substantial amount of illicit drugs”.

Andrew Carey

andrew@limerickpost.ie

18KG of khat, the leafy green plant considered a stimulant with effects similar to that of amphetamine when chewed, has been seized from a private home in Limerick this Tuesday following a joint operation between Gardai and Revenue officials.

In three similar but separate operations cigarettes and tobacco with a total value of approximately €50,000 were also seized.

In a garda operation, that included a controlled delivery to a private residence in Limerick city this Tuesday, Revenue seized 18kg of khat with an estimated street value of €36,000 as part of a joint operation with An Garda Síochána.
Two non-Irish nationals were arrested and taken to Henry Street Garda Station.

Investigations are ongoing.

In two separate intelligence-led operations in Dublin this Tuesday, officers from Revenue’s Customs Service seized approximately 20,000 cigarettes and 10kgs of tobacco with an approximate retail value of €14,000 and potential loss to the Exchequer of €12,000.

The ‘Dorchester’, ‘Golden Eagle’, ‘Mayfair’, ‘Palace’, ‘Excellence’ and ‘Samson’ brand tobacco products were seized from private dwellings in the North Inner City.

Investigations are continuing with a view to prosecution.

This seizure is part of Revenue’s on-going operations targeting the supply and sale of illegal cigarettes.

If businesses or members of the public have any information regarding the smuggling or sale of illegal cigarettes or tobacco, they can contact Revenue in confidence on free phone number 1800 295 295.

Andrew Carey

andrew@limerickpost.ie

A MINOR road traffic collision is said to have sparked the reason why a County Limerick man slashed the driver of a car in the neck causing him serious injury almost 13 years ago.

The evidence was heard as the trial of Fedamore man, 33-year-old Alan Boohan opened at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.

Boohan, of Glenogra, Fedamore, denied the charge of assault causing serious harm to Eoghan O’Callaghan of Enaghroe, Fedamore, County Limerick on the night of September 23, 2001.

Prosecution counsel for the State, John O’Sullivan, told the jury of nine men and three women, that the incident arose when Boohan asked the victim to drive his car home from Bulgaden castle after they had attended a 21st birthday party.

The jury heard that the two, who were in the company of others were waiting for a taxi outside the Bulgaden Castle night club.

Boohan asked O’Callaghan to drive his car home on the night in question because the accused man had too much alcohol consumed.

The court heard from Mr O’Callaghan who said that he had “five or six pints” on the night but agreed to drive the car.

Reference was made to a “minor road traffic accident” where Mr O’Callaghan reversed into a parked car in Fedamore after he missed a turn.

However, the court heard that there was damage costing in the region €2,500 to the car.

Afterwards, O’Callaghan said that he felt something in the neck and that they drove less than half a mile to the hurling field when they all got out of the car bar Alan Boohan who was sitting in the back seat.

The court heard that Boohan then took the driver seat and left in the direction of Fedamore.

One of the girls with O’Callaghan said that she noticed a lot of blood coming from a wound on the right side of his neck.

The victim then said that he “was losing a lot of blood” and friends brought him to the emergency department at the former Mid Western Regional Hospital.

He was taken to surgery and had a total of 37 internal staples applied to suture the wound.

The laceration required six external stitches.

Asked who caused the wound to his neck, O’Callaghan replied “Alan Boohan, the accused man”.

Mr O’Sullivan asked O’Callaghan to show his scar to the jury and the judge.

Under cross examination, Mr O’Callaghan agreed with defence counsel that “may have had more than five or six pints” on the night.

He agreed he was “well over the drink driving limit before embarking on a long journey to Fedamore”.

Mr O’Callaghan said that he was “driving slowly” but accepted that he missed the turn as he didn’t notice it.

Defence counsel Brian McInerney BL asked O’Callaghan if he left his details with the owner of the car he “ploughed in to” and if this was the “start of his hit and run career”.

The court heard O’Callaghan confirm details of his previous convictions including road traffic offences for drink driving, hit and run as well as a conviction in 2006 for dangerous driving causing the death of Jason Nash who was a passenger in the car O’Callaghan was driving while drunk.

O’Callaghan served 27 months of a three year prison sentence that was handed down in 2007 for that offence.

Evidence was also given from the Annmarie Cleary as to her recollection of events on the night of her 21st birthday party.

She told the court that Boohan was not originally invited to the event at Bulgaden Castle but that she remembers him being there.

Ms Cleary’s partner Thomas Nash, gave evidence of meeting O’Callaghan in he early hours of the morning.

He said that he didn’t notice the gash to O’Callaghan’s neck until the alleged victim “turned his head and you could see the flap hanging down over his collar. His neck was wide open.”

The court heard that Mr Ryan brought O’Callaghan to hospital and that on several occasions “you could hear one of the lads roaring at Eoghan to stay awake as he was drifting in and out of consciousness”.

It was not until August 2002 that O’Callaghan made the complaint to gardai, the jury was also told.

One of the females in the car at the time of the alleged assault, Michelle O’Neill gave evidence that she alleged she saw Boohan with “something silvery in his hand” and that he was “up close” to the back of O’Callaghan while he was sitting in the car.

In his closing speech, John O’Sullivan for the prosecution said that he believes the State has proved the case that Boohan caused the injury to Mr O’Callaghan and that the witnesses did not “collude to concoct or learn off a story”.

David Sutton SC, addressed the jury in the defence of Alan Boohan and said that burden of proof remains with the prosecution and in this case they have not meet that beyond reasonable doubt.

“It is simply not the case, this event, happened 13 weeks ago – two weeks after that dreadful event that was 9/11.”

He asked the jury to consider “very carefully” why there was an eight month delay in the complaint being made.

Mr Sutton said that the credibility of the chief witness and alleged victim had to be brought into question because he is a “dangerous driver”.

Addressing the evidence of Michelle O’Neill that was given before the court, Mr Sutton said that Ms O’Neill didn’t see the accused man inflict the injury despite what she says about seeing a “silvery object”. The reason, Mr Sutton said, was that his client Alan Boohan “simply did not inflict the injury”.

The jury are to begin their deliberations later today as evidence in the case has concluded before Judge Carroll Moran.

Andrew Carey

andrew@limerickpost.ie

HANDCUFFED and lying face down on his kitchen floor, Ger Garvey was told he would have his head blown off; his daughter would be killed and he would never see his children again unless he handed over cash to the four armed raiders who forced their way into his home.

The evidence was heard at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court this week when two of the four raiders were sentenced for their roles in the aggravated burglary of Sunville House near the county Limerick village of Pallasgreen and the false imprisonment of the Garvey family on April 16, 2012.

Christopher Stokes (42) with an address at Knocknaheeny in Cork pleaded guilty to both charges while John Cahill of Hill View, Doon, admitted his role in the aggravated burglary and setting fire to the stolen getaway car.

Prosecuting counsel Michael Collins said that shortly after 9:30pm on the night in question, Mr Garvey was at home with his wife Ann; their children, twins Gordon and Grace and younger twins, Gillian and Graham when he heard two loud bangs as four masked men burst through a patio window.

Armed with a sawn off shotgun, a sledge hammer and a baseball bat, the menrestrained 54-year-old Mr Garvey by ordering him to lie face down on the kitchen floor before handcuffing his hands behind his back.

During the ordeal, that Mr Garvey said changed the lives of his family forever, the raiders constantly shouted threats and demanded cash and the keys to the safe.

One of the raiders used cable ties to tie the hands of his then 16 year-old daughter, Grace.

Graham, then 14, ran upstairs to alert his mother who was taking a bath and his twin sister Gillian followed him into the bathroom. Two of the masked raiders followed them and continued demanding money.

The court was told that throughout the ordeal, the violent threats continued as Mrs Garvey pretended to search for a key to the safe.

After threatening to kill her daughter, the two raiders took $3,000 in cash from the safe as well as a quantity of sterling.

Graham was punched in the face by Stokes who was carrying a baseball bat, before being pinned to the ground with Stokes standing on his shoulder. He said he would crack the 14 year-old’s skull if he didn’t hand over the keys of the safe.

In his victim impact statement, Mr Garvey, who is a Limerick Regeneration community development manager in St Mary’s Park, said that “the lives of our family were changed dramatically as a result of a frightening aggravated burglary at our home”.

“As a result of this horrible event, all of us feel constantly edgy and fearful even within the confines of our house”, he said.

He added that loud noises or normal everyday occurrences like a knock on the door sparked fear among them. They lock all doors and none of the children go outside once dusk appears.

He said that both they and their neighbours were afraid that similar attacks might occur.

Gillian told her counsellors that she fears someone is still watching her while Graham said that when he comes into the house, he immediately runs upstairs because he thinks someone is going to run up after him. He said that he has nightmares of the event.

Judge Carroll Moran adjourned the passing of sentence until June 16 .

by Andrew Carey

andrew@limerickpost.ie

WHEN paedophile John (Jack) Dunne was jailed last year for abusing four young boys during the mid 60s, a further six victims emerged to make complaints against the 83-year-old former Garda.

But justice was denied to the six new complainants last week-end when Dunne, of Canon Breen Park, Thomondgate, died in a Limerick nursing home before the latest round of court cases could proceed.

A native of Limerick city, Dunne abused young boys while he was children’s liaison officer at Pearse Street Garda station in Dublin and also polio sufferers whom he targeted through his activities as leader of a scout troop for disabled children.

Last year he was jailed for six months by Judge Carroll Moran after pleading guilty to 14 separate counts of abuse against four boys.

One victim told the court he was abused 15 to 20 times. The offences, which dated back to the late 50s, 60s and 70s, included abuse where Dunne admitted kissing the boys on the lips, touching 
private parts and mutual masturbation.

The abuse first came to light following the publication of the Ryan Report in 2009 when one of Dunne’s victims contacted Gardaí.

After he was sentenced last year, six new victims came forward and a fresh investigation was launched.

This led to Dunne being charged with 36 new offences in relation to six different victims — all of whom said they were abused by Dunne in the 1960s and 1970s.

The cases had been for hearing later this year but will be struck out after the former Garda’s death last week-end.

The complainants are said to be “very disappointed about that”.

Described as one of the most “disgusting paedophiles in the history of the State, Gardaí believe that there could be dozens more victims as “he preyed on the most vulnerable in society”.

After he resigned from the Gardaí, Dunne joined the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament in 1977 but he continued abusing children.

In 1986, he received the Probation Act for indecently assaulting a 12-year-old boy and in 1992, he attended sex therapy at Trinity House in Chicago for four months before leaving the religious order in 1997.

He then moved to Thomondgate and was resident in a local nursing home before his death.

A ROMANIAN street beggar has won his appeal against a court activating a suspended sentence for obstructing people while begging in Limerick city last year.

20-year-old Vasile Muntean was jailed for obstructing gardai and a public order charge of street begging on December 14 last year.

At Limerick Circuit Court this week, Judge Carroll Moran was told that the Romanian national, with an address in Athlone has a “long list of previous convictions” including theft, burglary, begging and breaches of the public order.

Taking into account the time previously spent in prison earlier this year, he allowed the appeal against the activation of the suspended sentence from May 2013.

Cllr Emmett O’Brien

A SHOOTING incident in the village of Ballyhahill last week has increased the growing sense of fear and isolation within the local community, according to a local public representative.

Gardai in Newcastle West are investigating an incident last Friday morning when a volley of shots was discharged at a house in the village. No one was injured and it is understood the house may have been unoccupied at the time.

Independent councillor for the Rathkeale-Adare area, Emmett O’Brien described the incident as alarming and says it comes only weeks after he called for a sergeant to be assigned to Askeaton Garda Station.

“This incident only increases the growing sense of fear and isolation that people feel in this constituency and we need quick and decisive action from the government to give the Gardaí more resources.

“The local Gardai are doing their best with limited resources but not having a permanent and highly visible presence is having profound social consequences for the people of Askeaton, Foynes and Ballyhahill,” he said.

He says that increased patrol hours and increased Garda visibility is needed in communities across County Limerick.

“This will not only give comfort to the locals but will also give solid support to local Gardai who are working so hard to prevent crime,” he suggested.

Witnesses to the shooting should contact Newcastle West Gardaí on 061-20650.

by Andrew Carey

andrew@limerickpost.ie

FIANNA Fáil Justice spokesperson Niall Collins petitioned a Circuit court judge not to jail a Castleconnell drugs dealer because of concerns over the welfare of his children following the tragic death of his wife earlier this year.

Hugo Porter (40) was caught coming from a field in Castleconnell with a quantity of pre-bagged cannabis ready for individual sale while his friend, Alan Lysaght (39), from Scanlon Park in Castleconnell, waited in his jeep checking off a list of customers.

They both pleaded guilty to the drugs offences and made admissions to Gardaí during interviews after their arrest.

At the sentencing hearing earlier this week, Judge Carroll Moran was told that the Porter’s wife died tragically last January and he was now the sole carer of his four children aged 10, 9, 6 and 5.

Castleconnell-based Peace Commissioner Frank Ryan said that Hugo Porter was a terrific father to his four children since their mother died. It was a tragic outcome and the whole village had rallied around them in support.

A letter from Limerick Fianna Fáil TD, Niall Collins, who is his party’s spokesperson for Justice, was handed to to Judge Moran but prosecution counsel John O’Sullivan asked that the court would not “attach any weight to a letter sent from a public representative”.

He said that while it was once common practice, it had thankfully stopped. Independent of the letter, the court had enough evidence to consider what is appropriate”.

Judge Moran said that sentencing the two men had a considerable amount of difficulty attached to it, as he was being “asked to differentiate between the two men and their circumstances, even though they had been described as working in tandem”.

Lysaght was jailed for three years with the final year suspended and the sentence backdated to last January.

Adjourning Porter’s sentencing, Judge Moran said he had to consider the possible activation of a suspended sentence for a previous assault case and an appropriate sentence for the drugs charge.

The case was adjourned until October 10 with the judge saying that Porter was “not out of the woods yet”.

Andrew Carey

andrew@limerickpost.ie

THE son of murdered Limerick gangster Eddie Ryan has launched a High Court application to secure his release from prison on a firearms offence.

31-year-old Edward Ryan Junior of College Avenue, Moyross, Limerick, was given a six-year sentence in July 2010 after pleading guilty to possession of a Browning semi-automatic pistol and 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition. It was his first court conviction.

The weapon and ammunition were seized when Gardaí stopped and searched a car at Ballyneety on the outskirts of Limerick city in May 2010 following a surveillance operation.

His brother, Kieran ‘Rashers’ Ryan, was sentenced to eight years in prison for the same offence.

They are the sons of gangland figure 41-year-old Eddie Ryan Senior who was shot dead in the Moose Bar in Limerick city in November 2000.

Aside from their family background, the two brothers made national headlines when they were allegedly bundled into a van and kidnapped at gunpoint. They turned up a week later unharmed after an extensive search by Gardaí and the army.

Under the 2007 Prison rules, Eddie Ryan Junior has claimed to the High Court that he is entitled to be released with a third of his sentence left to serve.

This, his lawyers say, is due to his good behaviour and the fact that he has availed of all structured activities and courses available to him in the prison.

After completing a woodworking course at the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise, he made items for a local charity shop.

Last April, the Department of Justice refused his application to be released with one third of his sentence left to serve.

His lawyers saw that no reasons were given for the refusal and it has not been explained what he has to do to get one third of his sentence off.

If his application to the High Court is successful, he would have been due for release last May. As it stands, he is due to be released in November.

The matter was adjourned to a date in early July to allow the State time to respond to the claim.

by Andrew Carey

andrew@limerickpost.ie

A CAR buying fraud involving the use of forged bank drafts has been highlighted by gardaí who say there have been more reports of the scam so far this year than in all of 2013.

However, the rate of detection has been exceptionally high with all but one of the 79 cars taken by fraudsters recovered in the last three years.

Gardaí are urging people buying or selling their cars privately to take necessary precautions before finalising the sale.

A spokesperson for the Crime Prevention Unit explained that fraudsters usually target people who advertise their vehicles for sale on classified websites. Contact is made expressing an interest in viewing and then purchasing the vehicle.

The criminals also place adverts seeking “drivers wanted” on websites. They then arrange for the drivers to meet with the sellers in pubs, hotel receptions or car parks in the evening time, usually on Fridays.

A forged bank draft is handed over and the driver receives the vehicle and its registration certificate. The seller is told the buyer is in the motor trade and given an RF105 (Change of ownership to Motor dealer) form with details of a fictitious garage.

The vehicle is already re-advertised on the internet below the market value to attract attention. It is then immediately resold, sometimes within hours, to an innocent purchaser.

When the false draft is discovered the vehicle is reported as stolen.

All the cars recovered over the past three years were returned to their owners, leaving the unsuspecting buyers out of pocket – with one person suffering a loss of €40,000 last year.

Gardaí have been working with classified websites such as DoneDeal.ie, Adverts.ie, Carzone.ie and autotrader.ie to trace the suspects, warn their customers and remove adverts.

Sellers are advised to only accept bank drafts that are verified by the banks and if they are about to purchase a vehicle themselves, they should consider a method of payment that is traceable.

Any information to contact Garda Crimestoppers – 1800 250025

by Andrew Carey

andrew@limerickpost.ie

A WELL-KNOWN property developer is to face trial on allegations he fraudulently claimed his father’s pension, carers and fuel allowances for up to ten months after his death.

Peter Stritch (48) of Bellisle, Clonlara made no reply when the 25 counts of theft were put to him at Limerick District Court on Tuesday.

Judge Eugene O’Kelly was told that the Director Of Public Prosecutions directed that Mr Stritch be sent forward for trial in relation to 22 charges of defrauding the Department of Social Protection of almost €29,000 and three charges of presenting cheques to Ulster Bank in his father’s name drawn down from a Canada Life pension totalling over €400.

It is alleged that Peter Stritch was an assigned agent for his father, Michael, with authority to collect his pension. He was appointed in July 2012, the same month his father died.

The charges allege that he claimed payments and allowances at Garryowen Post office on fortnightly dates between September 2012 and May 2013 and that he stole cheques from the Canada Life pension and presented them at the Ulster Bank in Limerick on December 24, 2012; February 12 and April 3, 2013.

Sergeant Adrian Whelan sought an adjournment for the preparation and service of a book of evidence with the agreement of defending solicitor John Herbert.

Judge O’Kelly granted the application and remanded Mr Stritch on continuing bail until September 9.

Andrew Carey

andrew@limerickpost.ie

A NATIVE of the Ivory Coast who was stopped at the boarding gate in Dublin Airport gate denies that he was trying to flee the jurisdiction before being charged with the alleged rape of his former girlfriend in Limerick.

The 26-year-old, who can not be named for legal reasons says that he was not leaving the country because he was aware gardai were looking to speak with him in connection with an alleged incident instead he was travelling to Morocco to buy robes and clothing for the upcoming Muslim Ramadan.

During a contested bail hearing at Limerick District Court, Judge O’Kelly heard the defendant say “I was not running away,” as he offered his explanation for attempting to board the flight.

Having being detained in the early hours of last Friday morning in the airport, security staff alerted Det Garda Ivan Muldoon and Det Gda Brendan Stokes. The pair travelled to Dublin and arrested the accused.

It is alleged that the 26-year-old raped the woman at an apartment in the city over the course of several hours at his then address on July 8, 2013.

Judge Eugene O’Kelly was told that the Director of Public Prosecution had directed that the man be charged with two counts of rape but gardai were unable to find the accused as he had since left the address.

Detective Garda Ivan Muldoon told the hearing that he had called to the man’s address and met with associates informing them that he wished to speak with the 26-year-old from the Ivory Coast.

He had evaded gardai until last Friday when the 26-year-old was identified at the boarding gate of trying to board the flight with tickets that had been purchased using what was described as a “compromised United States credit card.”

Det Garda Muldoon said he believed the suspect was attempting to flee the jurisdiction.

“I believe he knew I was looking for him, I believe that’s why he was leaving the country,” he said.

In his evidence, the accused man denied he was fleeing and explained his purpose was to purchase the clothes for Ramadan.

“I was not running away,” he said.

Judge O’Kelly said the purchase of tickets within a fortnight of the DPP directing he be charged “too great a coincidence to displace the inference he was trying to flee.”

Bail was refused and the accused was remanded in custody for the preparation and service of a book of evidence.

THE THREE judges of the non-jury special criminal court will deliver their verdict tomorrow in the trial of two men charged with the murder of Limerick businessman, Roy Collins. Andrew Carey reviews the case to be considered.

The Trial

Presiding judge Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley, along with Judge Margaret Heneghan and Judge Anne Ryan, will deliberate over allegations that 36-year-old Wayne Dundon, Lenihan Avenue ordered a man to go to the Coincastle Amusements Arcade at the Roxboro Shopping Centre on April 9, 2009 to shoot and kill Steve Collins.

Steve Collins’ son Roy, a 35-year-old father of two, was shot dead by James Dillon who, it is alleged, carried out the killing in retribution for the Collins family giving evidence in previous trials against the Dundon gang.

The judges must also consider evidence alleging that 24-year-old Nathan Killeen from Hyde Avenue, Prospect, drove the getaway car for Dillon.

The Evidence

During the trial, which is the first in the history of the State to be presided over by three female judges, evidence was heard from dozens of gardai, gang members serving lengthy prison sentences, their girlfriends, extended family members and a convicted murderer.

Gareth Collins – a former member to the McCarthy Dundon gang – said he was offered €20,000 and drugs by Wayne Dundon to drive the getaway car. He said that Dundon made the offer on a mobile phone from his prison cell.

Collins said he refused as he knew the job was “not just to drive a fella around the corner” and figured it was something much more serious. He told Dundon that he “didn’t want to have anything to with that”.

Collins was well known to gardai but he told nobody of Dundon’s offer and moved to Portlaoise after his release from prison before the murder in 2009.

He said he saw Nathan Killeen and another man leave Crecora Avenue on the morning of April 9 and, a short time later, saw them being pursued by Gardaí in the Roxboro area.

In 2011, Gareth Collins, along with other members of the Dundon gang, was jailed for violent disorder and demanding money with menaces.

Remy Farrell SC, defence counsel for Wayne Dundon, put it to Collins that the only reason he came forward to give evidence against Dundon was that he was aggrieved he got one of the longest sentences for the crime.

Collins denied this and also that he was trying to see what protection he could get for his girlfriend and himself once released from prison.

His girlfriend, Elaine Walsh, said that she still lived in fear of the Dundons and that she made a false statement to Gardaí three years ago to provide an alibi for Gareth Collins.

“We were in fear of our lives and still are to this day. I had to do what I did at that time to protect Gareth, and the pressure he was under from certain people. At the time I had to do the right thing to protect him,” she said.

Ger Dundon’s former partner and mother of three children, April Collins, told the trial that she received a call from Wayne Dundon from his prison cell. She told the three judges that she brought her young son to the hospital on the morning of the shooting and that while she was there, Dundon allegedly phoned her from a mobile phone he had access to while in prison and asked if members of Roy Collins’ family were there too. She said that she told Wayne Dundon that Roy’s partner was there and visibly very upset. This evidence was challenged through legal argument by the defence.

Garda James Hourihan told the trial that some of the main witnesses had testified out of ‘a necessity to stay alive’. He said he took a statement from Gareth Collins in prison after his sister April testified against the Dundons in two earlier trials.

Under cross examination by Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha, defending Killeen, Gda Hourihan said that Dundon had threatened to kill members of the Collins family in March 2011

“It forced the hand of the Collins family to come forward and make statements. It was a necessity to stay alive in my opinion.”

The trial also heard from convicted killer Anthony Noddy McCarthy who is a cousin of the Dundon family and one of five men jailed for the killing of rival gang boss Kieran Keane.

McCarthy said that he heard Dundon on a mobile phone in Wheatfield prison on the morning of the murder telling the person on the phone to “go up and do Collins”.

When he asked Dundon what it was all about, he said he had told James Dillon to kill Steve Collins or he and his mother would be hurt.

He found out about Roy Collins being shot on the RTÉ teletext service which reported that he was wounded in the leg. When he met him shortly afterwards on the prison landing, Dundon boasted that Steve Collins thought I was joking” adding that the victim was not wounded but dead,

In his evidence, Steve Collins said that on the morning of the shooting, he was called into his son’s business by a work colleague to find Roy on his knees with a bloody shirt and finding it extremely difficult to breath.

He held his son in his arms until paramedics came and tried to save his life. He died in hospital a short time later from the single gunshot wound. A burnt out Mercedes car was found three miles away and two men were seen fleeing from the scene.

Closing speeches have been heard and the court has reserved its judgement.

The Judges

Presiding judge Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley

Born in 1964 and called to the bar in 1987, Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley was called to the inner bar in 2007 and is a director and former chairperson of FLAC (Free Legal Aid Centres) for which she was awarded the ESB Rehab person of the year in 2004. She has sat on a number of tribunals including the four year Hepatitis C tribunal in 1995.

Judge Margaret Heneghan is a circuit court judge from the Dublin and has presided over many high profile cases. Born in 1959, she was called to the bar in 1993 and appointed to the Circuit in 2012. Judge Heneghan was also a member of the legal aid board during her time as a senior counsel.

Judge Ann Ryan was appointed to the judiciary in 2004 and assigned Dublin District Court where she regularly presides at the children’s court. She is known as a longtime advocate for children’s rights.

The Court

SET up in the early 1970s, the Special Criminal court is presided over by three judges, one from the district, circuit and high courts. It was established to hear cases of organised crime, terrorism and serious offences deemed unsuitable to be heard before a judge and jury.

The court sits in the €200 million Criminal Courts of Justice building at the Phoenix Park. The high security building holds 19 courts, judicial suites and extensive law library facilities.

A 51-year-old taxi driver forced to drive at knife point by a convicted rapist, has described the ordeal as the “most traumatic event of his life”.

Part time driver Pat Dillon said his life has changed “insurmountably” since his taxi was hijacked by two men in Limerick last year.

In a victim impact statement the 51-year-old grandfather described how he has lost trust in people and now drives with his doors locked constantly.

Convicted rapist, 20-year-old Aaron Maloney with an address at McGarry House, Alphonsus Street, Limerick, but originally from Ennis was one of two men who flagged down Mr Dillon’s taxi on January 26, 2013 – the day of his 19th birthday.

The second man 18-year-old Hugh Kavanagh of Shannonmore Park, Clareview, Limerick, has since died from a suspected drugs overdose.

Earlier this year, both men pleaded guilty at Limerick Circuit Court to unlawfully seizing the taxi at St Nessan’s Road, Raheen, Limerick on January 26, 2013.

At the sentencing hearing the court heard how Mr Dillon drove the men to a number of locations in Limerick and Clare for more than 40 minutes before a knife was produced and he was forced to drive back into the city at knife point.

At the entrance to Cratloe Woods the terrified driver was warned by Maloney ‘it now ends here’, the court heard.

During the threatening period of the journey which lasted for 15-20 minutes the men claimed they were members of the IRA who were going to carry out a hit the following day and needed his car.

Maloney held a knife to the back of Mr Dillon’s neck throughout the journey back into Limerick city where the taxi driver considered crashing into a Garda patrol car which he encountered, the court heard.

Counsel for the state John O’Sullivan said during his ordeal Mr Dillon had recalled an incident in the eighties during which a taxi driver from Limerick was abducted and found murdered in Cratloe, Co Clare.

In his victim impact statement the 51-year-old grandfather described the incident was “the most traumatic event of his life.

“What occurred was a sheer terror for me. I have lost a lot of trust in people…” the statement read.

He said he suffers from anxiety as a result of this incident and also flashbacks and disturbed sleep patterns, adding there was, “a real threat of an unseen firearm.”

“The words ‘it now ends here’ will haunt me forever’. My life has changed insurmountably I will never completely get over this incident.” he concluded.

In his evidence Detective Garda Pat Whelan described Maloney – who lives in a homeless hostel – as a “very troubled young man” adding the situation is worrying.

The court heard the 20-year-old had previous convictions for rape and false imprisonment and these offences were committed when he was a minor.

Imposing sentence Judge Carroll Moran noted the 20-year-old’s dysfunctional and troubled family background outlined in a medical report.

Judge Moran described ‘car jackings’ as serious matter and said it was a traumatic experience for the taxi driver who he commended for “his presence of mind while trying to deal with this awful experience”.

The judge imposed a sentence of six years but suspended the final two years.

Andrew Carey

andrew@limerickpost.ie

A MAN and a woman have been seriously injured in a shooting at a housing estate in Newcastle West this Wednesday afternoon.

The male, understood to be in his 30s was shot outside a house in the Castleview estate of the county Limerick town shortly after 3:30pm. He has been seriously injured in the incident when he was shot by a lone gunman on the right side.

The female victim was injured in the shooting and received wounds from pellets

Both of the victims have been taken to University Hospital Limerick.

Gardaí at Newcastle West have appealed for witnesses and are looking to trace the whereabouts and movements of a 2003 registered silver coloured Volkswagen Passat.

They are appealing for witnesses who at have seen the car.

Gardai and investigators from the Limerick division are trying to establish a motive for the gun attack but no arrests have been made as of yet.

The scene at Castleview has been sealed off and a technical and forensic examination will be carried out.

An incident room has been set up at Newcastle West Garda Station which can be contacted on (069)20650.

Andrew Carey

andrew@limerickpost.ie

A 25-year-old man has been arrested as part of a garda investigation into a shooting in Newcastle West on Wednesday afternoon last where a brother and sister were injured outside their Castleview estate home.

Gardai and detectives arrested the male in the early hours of this Thursday morning and are detaining him under section 30 of the offences against the state act.

Shortly after 3pm on Wednesday, a gunman opened fire on 34 year old Gerard Hennessy injuring him on his right side.

The target’s sister Collette was also injured from pellet spray on the attack.

Both were taken to hospital but Ger Hennessy was airlifted to Cork.

Gardai at Newcastle West are leading the investigation and appealing for information on a silver coloured Passat that was seen arriving and leaving the scene.

Andrew Carey

andrew@limerickpost.ie

A 25-year-old man arrested in connection with a shooting in County Limerick remains in garda custody this Thursday evening as the manhunt for the gunman continues.

34 year-old Gerard Hennessy was shot outside his home in Castlevew, Newcastle West on Wednesday afternoon shortly after he returned from a brief district court hearing in Limerick. His sister Collette was also injured in the shooting.

Both were treated in hospital and Gerard was later airlifted to Cork University Hospital for further treatment. Their injuries, although serious, are not considered to be life threatening.

Hennessy had been charged in connection with the alleged assault of three people in November 2004 as well as an allegation of criminal damage to a vehicle at the County Limerick address.

The 25-year-old male has been detained under section 30 of the Offences against the State act and his period of detention has been extended as gardai continue their investigations.

It is understood that the gunman, who fled the scene the scene in a silver coloured Volkswagen Passat, is still being sought by gardai.

Gardai are following a number of definite lines of enquiry as locals are still coming to terms with the shock of the shooting in broad daylight in the quiet neighbourhood just across the road from Tesco on the main road into Newcastle West.

Andrew Carey

andrew@limerickpost.ie

CONVICTED criminals in Limerick Prison have been paid over €1.2 million euro in pocketmoney over the last five years, figures have revealed.

The payments, which fall under the daily cash allowance scheme, are part of the €19m paid out across the 14 prison institutions in the five years to 2013.

When in custody, convicted criminals received a daily cash allowance flat rate of €2.35. In 2013, the scheme was changed and a rate of €1.70 was applied to all serving criminals with incentives of an extra .50c applicable to those who were on good behaviour while deductions of .95c were taken from prisoners who were not compliant.

€1 extra can be earned by prisoners who participate in cleaning or maintenance duties.

The 220 male and up to 30 female prisoners at Limerick Prison are entitled to use the money in the prison tuck shop or save it until their release.

Prisoners can also spend .15c of their allowance on daily television rental.

In the five years prior to the 2013 change, €18,922,294 has been the bill footed by the taxpayer in payments given to incarcerated offenders.

Payments made to prisoners by prison for the five year period were, Mountjoy €3.4m; Midlands €2.6; Wheatfield €2.5m and Cloverhill €1.9m; Castlerea €1.4m; Limerick €1.2 and Cork €1.1m.

Just under €600,000 was paid out to prisoners accommodated open security facility of Shelton Abbey with an operational capacity of 115.