Redmond corruption conviction quashed

The Court of Criminal Appeal has quashed the corruption conviction of former assistant Dublin city and county manager Mr George Redmond.

The three-judge court ruled that had new evidence of bank records been available to the jury at the original trial there was "a strong possibility that it would have raised a reasonable doubt in their minds".

Reading the ruling, Ms Justice Catherine McGuinness said in light of the new evidence the court considers the conviction "unsafe and unsatisfactory".

Ms Justice McGuinness said that since Mr Redmond (80) had "served virtually the whole of his sentence " it would be wrong of the court to order a re-trail.

Mr Redmond, who was serving a 12-month sentence, effective from last November 19th, remained in the cells attached to the Four Courts as court read out its ruling.

A short time later he emerged from the court building but declined to comment on the judgement.

Mr Redmond was jailed on December 19th last after being found guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court of accepting a £10,000 bribe in the 1980s from garage owner Mr Brendan Fassnidge over a right of way at Palmerstown from Dublin County Council.

In his evidence Mr Fassnidge claimed he had withdrawn the £10,000 from the Blanchardstown branch of the Bank of Ireland during March or April of 1988.

But in its ruling today the court said bank records "established conclusively" that Mr Fassnidge did not withdraw the £10,000 from his account at any time during March or April.

"Mr Fassnidge's evidence that he did so cannot, therefore, be relied upon," the court said.

The court said it was fully established in evidence at the original trial that Mr Fassnidge made "an open and legal payment of £10,000 by cheque to the county council" in respect to Palmerstown.

Mr Redmond was originally convicted on two counts of corruption in relation to the sale of the right of way.

The Court today said: "It must be accepted that the full extent of these matters was established, if it was established at all, only through the evidence of Mr Fassnidge. It was acknowledged throughout the trial that his was the core evidence."

It said the striking feature of Mr Fassnidge's evidence was that it is largely "self-contradictory both in general terms and in detail, with the sole exception of central allegation that on a particular day shortly before the April 7th 1988 he went to the Blanchardstown branch of the Bank of Ireland and withdrew a sum of £10,000 in cash which he placed in a brown envelope and later at his home gave to Mr Redmond".

"The new evidence before this court now shows that this crucial part of Ms Fassnidge's evidence is simply wrong.

"Had this evidence been available to the defence at the trial it would assuredly have thrown a very grave doubt over Mr Fassnidge's evidence as a whole," the court said.