A Dublin man at the centre of a failed extradition attempt has gone on trial at the Special Criminal Court on an IRA membership charge. Mr Anthony Duncan (28), single and unemployed, of Kippure Park, Finglas, has denied being a member of the IRA on April 12th, 1996. The trial went ahead yesterday after the court turned down a defence challenge and ruled that it had jurisdiction to deal with the case. The court also directed that the media should not publish any evidence relating to matters outside the Republic.
The court heard that Mr Duncan was arrested by gardai at his home on April 11th. He was taken to Lucan Garda Station and on April 13th was arrested on foot of an extradition warrant issued by Bow Street Magistrates Court.
He was taken to the Dublin District Court where the court was advised that the warrant was defective. Mr Duncan was released and rearrested on an IRA membership charge.
Mr Maurice Gaffney SC, prosecuting, said the case against Mr Duncan consisted of evidence from a Garda chief superintendent and certain statements made by Mr Duncan while he was in custody.
Det Supt Ted Murphy told the court that he had confidential information that Mr Duncan was a member of the IRA. He said after the warrant was dismissed in the District Court, he arrested Mr Duncan at Chancery Street. At one stage when he was leading Mr Duncan back to the cells after the accused had been visited by his mother, Mr Duncan said: "I really f . . . ed up my life".
At the start of the trial Mr Duncan's counsel, Mr Anthony Sammon SC, challenged the jurisdiction of the court to deal with the case. He said Mr Duncan was originally returned for trial on the IRA membership charge to the Special Criminal Court in July 1996 by a District Court judge.
But following the discovery in November of that year that Judge Dominick Lynch had not been properly appointed, Mr Duncan was released and rearrested and brought to the Special Criminal Court where he was charged with an identical offence.
Mr Sammon said the original order returning him for trial had not been quashed although the remand orders made by the improperly constituted court had been. He submitted that the original return for trial was still valid and that the DPP could not use two procedures to bring his client before the court.
"This court is a creature of statute and its jurisdiction can only be derived from statute," he said.
But Mr Justice Morris, presiding, said Mr Duncan had been remanded from time to time by the Special Criminal Court after his return for trial was ordered on July 1st, 1996. On one occasion the defendant was remanded by a court that was not properly constituted and he had not been lawfully before the court on that date.
He said the court was satisfied that because of this the order returning him for trial was spent. The court was also satisfied the accused was properly arrested on November 7th, 1996, and it had jurisdiction to deal with the case.
The trial continues today.