The trial of law professor Diarmuid Phelan, charged with the murder of a man who died after a shooting incident at a farm in west Dublin, is among several high-profile cases due for hearing in the new law term.
Mr Phelan (54), of Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, is due to go on trial at the Central Criminal Court on October 7th, the opening day of the new term.
He is charged with the murder of Keith Conlon, a father of four, at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, on February 22nd, 2022. Mr Conlon was seriously injured in a shooting at the farm and died in hospital two days later.
In a separate trial listed that same day, Ruth Lawrence (42), originally from Clontarf, Dublin, is charged with the murder of two men whose bodies were discovered 10 years ago.
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Ms Lawrence is accused of the murder of 33-year-old Anthony Keegan and 32-year-old Eoin O’Connor on an unknown date between April 22nd and May 26th, 2014. Their bodies were found on Inchicup Island on Lough Sheelin, which straddles the Meath-Cavan border, on May 26th, 2014.
Regency appeals
In the Court of Appeal on October 8th, two men will appeal against their convictions by the nonjury Special Criminal Court for offences in connection with the 2016 gangland attack at the Regency Hotel in Dublin.
After a 52-day trial, the Special Criminal Court was satisfied the attack, during which Kinahan gang leader David Byrne was shot dead, was orchestrated by the rival Hutch criminal organisation.
Gerry Hutch, with an address at Clontarf, Dublin, was acquitted by the three-judge court of the murder of Byrne.
Paul Murphy and Jason Bonney were both convicted of providing getaway vehicles for the attack. Murphy (61), of Cherry Avenue, Swords, was jailed for nine years, and Bonney (52), Druimnigh Woods, Portmarnock, Co Dublin, received an 8½-year sentence.
Kevin Lunney assault case appeals
In November, the appeal court is due to hear an appeal by three men against their convictions on charges arising from the kidnapping and savage assault of former Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH) executive Kevin Lunney five years ago.
Three men with addresses in Dublin’s East Wall – Alan Harte (42), Island Quay Apartments; Alan O’Brien (40), Shelmalier Road; and Darren Redmond (27), Caledon Road – were found guilty by the Special Criminal Court last November of falsely imprisoning and intentionally causing serious harm to Mr Lunney at Drumbrade, Ballinagh, Co Cavan, on September 17th, 2019.
Mr Lunney gave evidence that, after being forced into the boot of a black Audi and driven to a container, he was threatened, told he must resign as a director of QIH and end litigation he was involved in. His shin was broken with a wooden plank, his face was cut and the letters “QIH” were scored into his chest with a Stanley knife. He was doused in bleach and then dumped in a country lane, where he was discovered that night by a tractor driver.
The prosecution case was that the attack on Mr Lunney was co-ordinated by a well-known criminal, Cyril McGuinness, who died four years ago.
The Special Criminal Court imposed effective sentences of 30 years on Harte, whom it described as the “ringleader” of the attack, 25 years on O’Brien and 15 years on Redmond. The admissibility of mobile phone records and CCTV evidence are expected to be key issues in the appeals.
Blanchardstown restaurant murder trial
A Christmas Eve shooting at Browne’s Steakhouse in Blanchardstown has led to seven men facing trial before the non-jury Special Criminal Court in November.
Gangland assassin Tristan Sherry (26) sustained blunt-force trauma to the head and died 11 days later in hospital, after he shot Jason Hennessy snr (48) at the restaurant on December 24th, 2022.
David Amah (18), of Hazel Grove, Portrane Road, Donabate, Co Dublin; Michael Andrecut (22), of Sheephill Avenue in Dublin 15; Noah Musueni (18), of Corduff Park, Corduff, Dublin 15; and Wayne Deegan (25), of Linnetsfield Avenue, Phibblestown, Dublin 15, have all been charged with murder.
Jaures Kumbu (18), of Brookhaven Grove, Blanchardstown, is charged with unlawful possession of a submachine gun at Main Street, Blanchardstown, on the same date.
A youth who was 17 at the time, who cannot be identified, and Jonas Kabangu (18), whose address cannot be published for security reasons, are charged with violent disorder on December 24th at the steakhouse.
Brandon Hennessy, of Sheephill, Blanchardstown, a son of Jason Hennessy snr, is accused of engaging in violent disorder by using or threatening to use violence, which would cause another person present to fear for their safety, contrary to section 15 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994.
Cases with implications for children’s sentencing
The Supreme Court will in October hear two separate but linked appeals with potentially significant implications for the sentencing of children who have committed serious offences where the generally applicable maximum penalty is an indeterminate life sentence.
One appeal is by a youth convicted of a murder committed when he was 14. A sentence of detention for life, with a review after 13 years, was imposed on him.
A similar sentence was imposed on the second appellant, who was 17 when he pleaded guilty, in a separate case, to murder. His appeal is against the sentence.
He has also appealed a ruling – on hold pending the outcome of the appeal – that he can be identified because he had turned 18 when his appeal was heard.
The High Court ruled this year, in a separate case, that it is unconstitutional for a child who turns 18 before they are sentenced for murder to be subject to the mandatory life sentence for murder. The Government has approved a new law to address that finding.
Rights of carers
An important judgment concerning the rights of carers is awaited from the Supreme Court. That appeal was taken by a mother who was refused a full carer’s allowance for her significantly disabled son because her partner, the son’s father, earns €848 a week.
Heard just weeks after the rejection of the care and family referendums, the appeal raised significant issues involving the interpretation of article 41.2 of the Constitution, which centres on a woman’s duties in the home.
Article 41.2, which a majority voted in the referendums held last March, says the State shall “endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home”.
Other cases
The Court of Appeal will on October 16th hear an appeal by Prof Philip Nolan against a High Court refusal to extend an injunction restraining his dismissal last May as director general of Science Foundation Ireland. He claims the SFI board’s decision was in breach of fair procedures and of the foundation’s implied contractual obligations. SFI argues his employment was terminated in accordance with his contract of employment.
Under its inherent jurisdiction, the High Court continues to deal with a steady number of applications for detention of males and females, including teenagers, with serious eating disorders. The HSE regularly seeks such orders on grounds of a serious risk to life and health.
The Assisted Decision-Making Capacity Act, under which the new Decision Support Service became fully operational last year, provides for about 2,000 adult wards of court to be discharged from High Court wardship within three years, with the court to decide what, if any, decision-support arrangement is required in each case.
Legal sources say the committees representing wards have to date been slow to seek discharge orders for reasons including their view that wards’ interests are well protected by the court.
The High Court’s commercial division will in October resume hearing the mammoth litigation over the refusal by insurers to pay out to leasing companies over valuable aircraft stranded in Russia.
It has been dubbed the “gravy planes” case because of the huge fees commanded by the lawyers involved, including brief fees of up to €1 million and daily pay rates of up to €7,000 for some senior counsel. The litigation began last June and, unless it settles, is due to run until February next year.
Lawyers working in other divisions of the High Court, including family and childcare cases involving often significant effects on people’s lives, can only dream of such fees.
Legal fees may be a consideration for the managers of Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath as it faces into a third year of litigation, with no solution in sight, involving schoolteacher Enoch Burke, who remains in jail for contempt of High Court orders to stay away from the school.
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