Courts

Three jailed for kidnapping of Quinn director Kevin Lunney contest DNA evidence used at trial

Lawyers argue DNA evidence from van – used as ‘team bus’ by offenders and destroyed by fire in Garda custody – should not have been admissible

Barristers for the three men also submitted that the Renault Kangoo van was not properly preserved by gardaí before the fire. Photograph: Nigel Stripe
Barristers for the three men also submitted that the Renault Kangoo van was not properly preserved by gardaí before the fire. Photograph: Nigel Stripe
Fiona Magennis
Tue Dec 17 2024 - 20:25

Lawyers for three men jailed for the kidnapping and torture of Quinn Industrial Holdings director Kevin Lunney have argued that key DNA evidence from a van that was used as a “team bus” by the offenders and was destroyed by fire while in Garda custody should not have been admissible at their trial.

Barristers for Alan Harte (43), Alan O’Brien (43), and Darren Redmond (30) also submitted that the Renault Kangoo van was not properly preserved by gardaí before the fire.

The trial heard that DNA matching Mr Lunney’s was swabbed from areas of suspected blood staining inside the Kangoo van. DNA matching one of the accused men, Redmond, was found on a bar behind the front seats. The prosecution did not allege that Mr Lunney was in the van but rather that someone who had been in contact with Mr Lunney transferred the blood to the van.

Following the trial at the Special Criminal Court in December 2022, Harte, of Island Quay Apartments, O’Brien, of Shelmalier Road, and Redmond, from Caledon Road, all in East Wall, Dublin 3, were convicted of false imprisonment and intentionally causing harm to Mr Lunney at a yard at Drumbrade, Ballinagh, Co Cavan, on September 17th, 2019.

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Career criminal Harte inflicted most of Mr Lunney’s serious injuries, including knife wounds to his face and torso, after he was abducted from his home in Co Fermanagh on September 17th, 2019. Harte was sentenced to 30 years in prison, while O’Brien received a 25-year sentence and Redmond was sentenced to 18 years with the final three suspended.

On the second day of the hearing before the three-judge appeals court on Tuesday, Michael O’Higgins SC, representing Harte, argued the State had failed to preserve the vehicle properly while in Garda custody as it was not stored in a secure location, there was no CCTV covering the facility and no log in relation to who had access to the van. In addition, he said, its integrity had been breached “on at least one occasion” when a surveillance team attended and removed a tracking device from the vehicle. There had been various evidence given as to whether the van had been locked or unlocked while at the facility, he added.

In response, Gareth Baker, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said there had been nothing in the evidence adduced to act as “some sort of bar to admissibility”.

“The nature of the evidence is highly relevant, highly probative,” he said.

“We say there is nothing there to constitute a sufficient concern to legitimately deem the evidence inadmissible,” the barrister added.

The appeal continues before the court on Wednesday.