A man serving a life sentence for the murder of Limerick crime figure Kieran Keane has made a successful court application to have gold and diamond jewellery returned to him by gardaí.
David Stanners (33) was appearing before Limerick District Court yesterday following an application under the Garda Property Act.
Stanners and four other men from Limerick were sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2003 for the murder of Kieran Keane. They were further sentenced to 15 years for the attempted murder of Keane's nephew, Owen Treacy, who was the chief witness in the murder trial.
At a sitting of Limerick District Court earlier this year, Stanners alleged that gardaí had taken several items of jewellery including a gold chain with a diamond cross, a diamond ring and a gold engraved bracelet from a bedroom at his Limerick home during their investigation.
He told the court that he wanted his jewellery returned to him.
His solicitor, Aeneas McCarthy, told the court that his client claimed that a statement existed in the boxes of case evidence which confirmed that gardaí had taken the jewellery.
Judge Tom O'Donnell ordered that counsel for Stanners and gardaí should trawl through the boxes of case evidence to identify the statement where it was alleged that gardaí had seized his jewellery.
At yesterday's brief sitting, Limerick District Court heard that three items of jewellery had since been returned to Stanners following the earlier court case.
These included a cross and chain, an engagement ring and a gold ring. However, Mr McCarthy told the court yesterday that his client insisted that a gold bracelet was still missing.
Judge O'Donnell said he would adjourn the matter generally with liberty to re-enter the case for either side. If gardaí or Stanners took a decision to re-enter the case, the search for any missing items could continue.