GARDA COMMISSIONER Fachtna Murphy has defended the special arrangements made for Jean Treacy when she gave evidence for the prosecution in the Eamonn Lillis trial, including special transport into and out of the court by a back entrance.
Ms Treacy was having an affair with Lillis at the time he killed his wife. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for manslaughter last week.
Mr Murphy said in a statement the special arrangements were “operational”, “which are unlikely to arise again with any regularity”. However, he would support such measures if the need arose again.
The decision to provide special treatment to Ms Treacy was criticised last night by National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI), a trade body representing the newspaper industry. In a statement, the organisation said Ms Treacy was “accorded special treatment without apparent legal jurisdiction, sanction or authority.
“We do not accept that any witness in a case, other than as directed by a court for good reason or as prescribed by law, can or should be brought into court by the gardaí by stealth,” said the NNI, which will meet the commissioner shortly to discuss the issue.
On the day she gave her evidence, Ms Treacy was brought into the car park used by the judiciary, the Garda Síochána and the Prison Service at the back of the new Criminal Courts complex, from where she was brought into court through the Garda entrance.
She left the same way, avoiding photographers waiting at the front of the court.
According to one photographer, the vehicle carrying her left at speed, forcing other photographers out of its way. It was followed by some photographers in a car, which was stopped by a hastily convened Garda roadblock.
In his statement, the commissioner said: “Arrangements were made to facilitate the access of one witness to and from the court through an entrance at the rear of the courts complex. This decision was made with all due regard to the particular needs and circumstances of the witness, including certain issues which arose prior to the trial commencing.
“I am advised that part of the arrangements put in place for the witness included transport to and from the court. I am further advised that the driver of the Garda vehicle carrying the witness away from the court observed a car in pursuit and radioed local gardaí to check the bona fides of its occupants. When local gardaí made efforts to stop the car, it diverted down a side road.”
The statement continued: “Private citizens step forward to help us in our task of bringing the perpetrators of serious crimes to justice. Very often this means that they must give evidence in open court. Many witnesses take this in their stride. For others it can be a difficult, sometimes distressing or traumatic experience.
“A private citizen performs a public service and fulfils a duty to the community when they give evidence in court. They do so in sight of their peers, the community and the media who can report (with certain exceptions) most, if not all, of what they say.
“While giving evidence in a criminal trial can be said to constitute a public duty, giving evidence does not in my view make a private citizen a public figure. When a witness’s role in a trial has concluded, they should be free to resume their lives without intrusion.”
Mr Murphy added: “It would be a grave development if individuals were also to be dissuaded from contacting gardaí with valuable information or evidence because of an anxiety or fear that their privacy would be the price exacted.”