Det Garda Jerry McCabe was hit by three bullets, one of which killed him, after a gunman armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle opened fire without warning on him and his colleague as they sat in a Garda car escorting a post office van, the Special Criminal Court heard yesterday.
The court was told that at least 14 shots were fired and that neither Det Garda McCabe nor his colleague, Det Garda Ben O'Sullivan, had a chance to draw their revolvers before they were both shot during an aborted post office van robbery at Adare, Co Limerick, on June 7th, 1996.
Four men went on trial at the court yesterday accused of the capital murder of Det Garda McCabe (53), a father of five. The charge carries a mandatory sentence of 40 years' imprisonment.
A fifth man also went on trial on charges connected with the murder and an attempted post office van robbery. The five men face a total of 30 charges connected with the murder of Det Garda McCabe and the attempted robbery in Adare.
Mr Pearse McCauley (34), from Strabane, Co Tyrone, with no fixed address, and three Co Limerick men, Mr Jeremiah Sheehy (36), of Abbey Park, Rathkeale, Mr Michael O'Neill (46), of Lisheen Park, Patrickswell, and Mr Kevin Walsh (42), also of Lisheen Park, Patrickswell, plead not guilty to the capital murder of Det Garda McCabe in Adare on June 7th, 1996, and to the attempted murder of his colleague on the same date.
They also deny the possession of firearms with intent to endanger life at Adare on June 7th, 1996, conspiracy to commit a robbery in Adare between June 5th and 8th, 1996, and possession of a quantity of assorted ammunition with intent to endanger life at Adare on June 7th, 1996.
They also plead not guilty to the unlawful possession of two rifles, a handgun and shotgun at Clonolea, Toomevara, Nenagh, Co Tipperary, on June 7th, 1996, and to possession of three shotgun cartridges at Clonolea on the same date.
Mr John Quinn (30), of Faha, Patrickswell, Co Limerick, denies the unlawful possession of ammunition at Patrickswell, Co Limerick, on June 6th, 1996, and to conspiring with others between June 5th and 8th, 1996, to commit a robbery at Adare.
Mr Edward Comyn SC, prosecuting, said the more serious charges arose from a conspiracy to rob a post office van at Adare. On the morning of June 7th, 1996, Det Garda McCabe and his colleague Det Garda O'Sullivan, were on escort duty in a Garda vehicle for a post office van delivering cash and postal packages to various centres in Co Limerick. They were each armed with .38 Smith and Wesson revolvers and also an Uzi sub-machinegun, and the post office van with £81,000 in cash was driven by Mr William Jackson.
The van left the central post office at Henry Street in Limerick at 6.30 a.m., and the first stop was at Adare. The post office van with the Garda car behind it arrived at Adare at 6.50 a.m., and both vehicles stopped outside the post office in the main street.
Mr Comyn said that although there was a conspiracy to rob the van, no robbery actually took place, and the events were confined to the Garda car. Although the accounts of a number of witnesses of the events would differ in some details, there was a large measure of agreement on the principal features of what happened.
Witnesses would tell the court that a Mitsubishi Pajero Jeep-type vehicle driven by a man wearing a balaclava deliberately drove into the back of the Garda car. It also had a passenger wearing a balaclava, and two men emerged from it and discharged a firearm into the Garda car, killing Det Garda McCabe and seriously wounding Det Garda O'Sullivan.
"Det Garda McCabe died almost instantly as a result of the injuries he received," Mr Comyn said. "Neither of the two gardai drew or used their firearms, and it is the State's contention they never had any opportunity to do so."
The Garda investigation established that only one firearm was discharged during the attempted robbery, and ballistics evidence would show that "a number of shots were discharged directly and rapidly into the Garda car".
Fourteen discharged cartridge cases from a Kalashnikov assault rifle were found at the scene, and three shots hit Det Garda McCabe, one of which was fatal.
Shortly after the shooting, a silver Mitsubishi Lancer car driven by a man wearing a balaclava drew up alongside the Garda car and collided with it. Paint from the Garda car was later found on the Lancer. At least four men were directly involved in the attempted robbery and they made their getaway in the Lancer.
Mr Comyn said the Pajero and Lancer vehicles had both been stolen, and the Lancer was later found abandoned near Kilmal lock. Other vehicles used in the attempted robbery included a red Volkswagen van and a white Ford Transit van. In the Pajero, gardai found a radio tuned to Garda frequencies, wood shavings, a bag of plastic ties, metal strips and a container of petrol which was possibly to be used to burn the vehicle.
They also found ammunition and shotgun cartridges and a magazine for a Heckler and Koch assault rifle.
In the Lancer, gardai found a round of Kalashnikov ammunition, wood chippings and plastic ties used to tie people up, and a container of petrol. Mr Comyn said that despite extensive searches, none of the weapons used in the raid was recovered.
One witness would identify Mr Sheehy as the man seen driving the silver Lancer away from Adare after the shooting. Another witness would tell the court that a number of men arrived at his home at Patrickswell on the day before the attempted robbery in a Pajero and Lancer. The men had Kalashnikov rifles, a shotgun and a short firearm and stayed until first light.
Another witness would tell the court that about 9 a.m. on June 7th, five men arrived at his house in Toomevara, Co Tipperary, and said they wanted to stay at the house. Two of them had military-style rifles, one had a shotgun and another a pistol.
One of the men gave instructions that boiler suits and gloves should be burned and that the wood stock should be sawn off a rifle. The men also arranged for the guns to be collected.
Mr Comyn said one of the accused men, Mr Quinn, was not at the scene of the shooting but had taken part in the preparation of the planned robbery. He had bought the plastic ties and provided diesel oil used in the Pajero jeep. He was not "a big player" but had assisted in the operation.
Mr O'Neill was one of the men at the scene of the shooting in Adare and was also at the houses at Patrickswell and Toomevara. Mr Sheehy was also at the raid and at Patrickswell and Toome vara, and his hair was found to match hairs found on a balaclava recovered from the scene.
It was also the State's case that Mr McCauley was at the scene of the shooting in Adare and was at Patrickswell and Toomevara. Mr Walsh was arrested much later than the others and "it may be that he was the person most involved in the project and in carrying out the enterprise that took place in Adare, but that would be a matter of inference". Mr Walsh used his father's gun licence to buy a box of shotgun cartridges in Waterford on May 6th, 1996, which were found in Adare.
Mr Comyn said the killing of Det Garda McCabe was "part of a well-planned operation to rob the post office van". The evidence would show that the object of ramming the escort car and shooting the gardai was to immobilise them and to rob the van. The shooting was deliberate and at close range. He said that the plan was to put the gardai out of action by close fire from an automatic weapon.
The trial continues today when the court will begin hearing evidence in the case, which is expected to last three months.