The Special Criminal Court has ruled that Garda interviews with five men accused of IRA membership were not admissible in evidence because they were detained in a Garda station for 20 hours with little or no sleep.
The court reserved judgment yesterday in the trial of the five, who were arrested in Bray, Co Wicklow, in October 2002.
Mr Justice O'Donovan, presiding, said the court was concerned that the men had been detained for 12 hours under the Criminal Justice Act and had been interviewed, and none had "very much in the way of sleep".
The men were rearrested under the Offences Against the State Act on suspicion of membership of an illegal organisation and were detained for a further period of hours during which they had no sleep before being interviewed.
"In essence, therefore, each of the accused was detained in a Garda station which must have been a hostile environment for them, notwithstanding that there is no suggestion that any one of them was ever treated with hostility, for approximately 20 hours with little or no sleep," the judge said.
He added: "The court is not satisfied to admit in evidence what transpired during each of the interviews to which each of the accused was subjected on the evening of October 11th, 2002."
The court has heard that each of the five refused to answer questions during Garda interviews on membership of an illegal organisation.
It also heard that a court is entitled to draw inferences from a failure to answer material questions.
It was the 24th day of the trial, which has heard that gardaí recovered a CS gas canister, a stun gun, pick-axe handles, balaclavas and a fake Garda jacket after the five were seen acting suspiciously around three vehicles by an-off duty Special Branch officer.
The court heard that gardaí found four of the men seated on the floor of a transit van, two of them dressed in fake Garda uniforms.
The five have pleaded not guilty to membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Óglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the IRA, on October 11th, 2002.
They are Thomas Gilson (24), of Bawnlea Avenue, Jobstown, Tallaght; Patrick Brennan (40), of Lindisfarne Avenue, Clondalkin; Seán O'Donnell (32), of Castle Drive, Sandymount; John Troy (22), of Donard Avenue; and Stephen Birney (30), of Conquerhill Road, Clontarf.
Mr George Birmingham SC, prosecuting, told the court: "What the five of them were up to, all of them were up to. It's a matter of clear joint enterprise."
He added that the accused were involved "in conduct which is suggestive of and supportive of engagement in IRA activity".
Defence counsel for all five accused gave closing speeches.
"The only proofs that have been produced in court are circumstantial," Mr Hugo Hynes SC, for Mr Birney, said.
Referring to the arrest, Mr Hynes added: "The men engaged in these activities were up to no good in that they were attempting to pass off one of them as a member of the gardaí. But that is a matter of crime, not of subversive activity."
Ms Deirdre Murphy SC, for Mr Brennan, urged the court "not to draw inferences" from the interviews with the accused.
Ms Aileen Donnelly SC, for Mr Gilson, said the "actual evidence" in the case did not lead "to the conclusion or the belief, or the suspicion, that they were members of the IRA".
The tattoos of the accused were addressed by Mr Paul Burns SC, for Mr O'Donnell.
"Has it come to this - that people are to be convicted of membership on the basis of tattoos on their person?"
Mr Niall Durnin SC, for Mr Troy, added: "The evidence does not go far enough to support conviction."