Gardai expect success in party killing inquiry

The early release from Garda custody on Wednesday night of a man being questioned about the shooting dead of Donna Cleary in Coolock at the weekend has "disrupted" the investigation but has not put a successful outcome at risk, senior gardaí working on the case have told The Irish Times.

Jeffrey Finnegan was released by the High Court at 8.30pm on Wednesday, 2½ hours before his period of detention was due to have expired.

Mr Finnegan (26), Rathvilly Drive, Finglas, and Wayne Harte (26), Littlepace Drive, Clonee, were arrested with Dwayne Foster on Sunday evening for questioning about the murder of Donna Cleary.

She was killed when shots were fired into the house in which she was attending a birthday party in the early hours of last Sunday morning.

The three were arrested at a house in The Curragh, Co Kildare, owned by a husband and wife, who were also arrested. All five have since been released.

A sixth person, a man in his 20s, was being questioned last night in relation to the murder. He voluntarily went to Coolock Garda station yesterday.

The five arrested on Sunday were all held under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. This allows for suspects to be detained for questioning for up to 72 hours without charge.

Section 30 arrests can be applied in any case where a firearm has been used in the commission of a crime. They can also be applied in respect of people whom gardaí believe are withholding information.

When the first 24-hour period of detention expires under a section 30 arrest, gardaí can apply to a chief superintendent to detain a suspect for a second 24-hour period. However, when this period expires, gardaí must apply to the courts to have the detention extended for a third and final 24-hour period of questioning.

The Act was amended in 1998 following the Omagh bomb. Up to that point, suspects could only be held for 48 hours.

Under the 1998 provisions, gardaí must demonstrate to a court that the third 24-hour period is necessary for the proper investigation of a crime. They must also show that the investigation is being conducted in a diligent and expeditious manner.

Problems arose with Mr Finnegan's continued detention as the third 24-hour period was being applied for. He and the four other people arrested were detained just before 11pm on Sunday evening.

This meant that by 11pm on Tuesday, 48 hours later, gardaí should have applied to the District Court for the third 24-hour period of Mr Finnegan's detention.

Crucially, it is not enough that the application is made to the court by this time. The extension should actually have been secured by gardaí by this time.

On Tuesday night, gardaí went to a special sitting of Dublin District Court to apply for detention extensions for Mr Finnegan and Mr Harte.

The Irish Times understands the hearing was scheduled to begin at 8pm. This would have allowed gardaí three hours before the court to apply for and secure the extensions.

However, the proceedings did not being until about 8.30pm.

The first detention application, which was in respect of Mr Harte, took nearly two hours. This was much longer than gardaí had envisaged; similar hearings in the past have usually taken a shorter time.

By the time Judge James McDonnell granted the extension, it was about 10.25pm. This left just 30 minutes for Mr Finnegan's hearing to be completed in order to meet the deadline.

Chief Supt Peter Maguire is the senior officer leading the Donna Cleary murder investigation. A barrister, he was representing the State in court. At about 10.30pm he brought the judge's attention to the time constraint. However, it was not granted until closer to 11.30pm by which time Mr Finnegan's detention had run out.

The third 24-hour period of detention was rendered illegal by the High Court on Wednesday on these grounds. Chief Supt Maguire told the court that the district judge told him he took a certain view of the matter once a person was before the court and he expected the parties to take account of that view.