Patrick Quirke’s murder conviction appeal centres on ‘invalid’ warrant

An invalid warrant was used to search farmer Patrick Quirke’s home in a Garda investigation into the murder of DJ Bobby Ryan, the Supreme Court has heard.

Lawyers for Quirke, who is appealing against his 2019 conviction for Mr Ryan’s murder, said the District judge who issued the search warrant was not informed of the intention to seize computers and electronic devices containing the personal data of an entire family.

Quirke’s computer formed a key part of the evidence against him, after it was found to have been used for internet searches on human decomposition and DNA.

At the Supreme Court on Monday, Bernard Condon SC, for Quirke (53), said there is a duty of candour on gardaí seeking a warrant, which is only lawful if there has been “judicial scrutiny” prior to its issuing.

Live like a lord: Wicklow estate that featured in The Tudors and Matt Damon film for €8m

---

An Irishwoman sailing around the world: ‘Only when I’m back in Dublin I notice how I’ve changed’

---

Table 45 review: Bar off Merrion Square transformed into new tapas restaurant full of home-made warmth

---

Sleep and rest are not the same and failure to address both can increase risk of burnout

---

He submitted that the issuing of a warrant engages a “clash of rights” between the investigation of crime and a personal right to privacy. Due to a lack of disclosure in this case, he said, the District judge was not permitted to properly weigh these competing rights in deciding whether or not to issue the warrant.

Mr Condon was addressing a seven-judge Supreme Court during the first day of Quirke’s two-day appeal against his conviction for the murder of Mr Ryan at Fawnagowan, Co Tipperary.

Quirke, of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary, denies murdering Mr Ryan, a part-time DJ going by the name ‘Mr Moonlight’, who went missing on June 3rd, 2011, after leaving his girlfriend Mary Lowry’s house at about 6.30am.

His remains were discovered in a disused run-off tank on a farm owned by Ms Lowry and leased by Quirke at Fawnagown in April 2013.

A jury at the Central Criminal Court convicted Quirke in 2019 by a majority verdict of 10:2 after a 71-day trial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

All 52 grounds of challenge to his conviction were dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

The appeal court ruled that while the lack of reference to computers was “suboptimal”, the omission was not fatal to the validity of the warrant.

Mr Condon told the Supreme Court it was “very important” to analyse the appeal court’s finding that the warrant was suboptimal. Before requesting the warrant gardaí had contemplated seizing a computer, so this should have been communicated to the issuing judge, he added.

The DPP, through its counsel Michael Bowman SC, pointed to other investigative evidence that had been set out in the warrant application to justify searching Quirke’s home.

The Attorney General Paul Gallagher SC said the appellant’s case is “legally unsustainable, wrong in principle, based on hypotheticals and ignores the facts of the case”.

Mr Gallagher said a search warrant can be issued when a judge is satisfied there is a “reasonable suspicion” to justify a search. Gardaí acting on foot of a warrant are then entitled to seize anything found in the premises that they “reasonably believe” is evidence, he added.

In a murder case like this it would be “absurd” for a judge to refuse to grant a warrant, considering what else was listed in the application.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC), which is participating in the appeal as an assistant to the court on legal issues, submitted that if gardaí have, at the time of applying for the warrant, an intention to seize electronic devices that contain personal data, they must inform the judge of that intention.

Ronan Kennedy SC, for IHREC, said various privacy issues are at stake when it comes to the “special category” of electronic devices.

At Quirke’s trial, the prosecution argued Mr Ryan was Quirke’s love rival and was murdered by Quirke so he could rekindle an affair with farm owner Mary Lowry.

Mr Ryan had been in a relationship with Ms Lowry and was last seen alive as he left her home to go to work on June 3rd 2011.

The prosecution said Quirke staged the discovery of the body as he was about to give up his lease on the farm and feared he would be found out.

The DPP will continue its response on Tuesday before Chief Justice Donal O’Donnell, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne, Mr Justice Peter Charleton, Mr Justice Séamus Woulfe and Mr Justice Brian Murray.