Episode 1065: Five to stand trial at special criminal court over alleged torture linked to Hennessy home
The five men will go on trial at the Special Criminal Court
Five men who are accused of waterboarding and branding a man with a cattle rod have been sent forward for trial at the Special Criminal Court.
Three sons of murdered Jason Hennessy, shot dead at Browne's Steakhouse during a Christmas celebration, and a father and son will stand trial for the brutal attack the victim alleged he underwent after calling to the Hennessy family home.
Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the case.
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Sunday World
8 hours ago
- Sunday World
Man set fire to Dublin house with five sleeping family members inside
'MISPLACED VENGEANCE' | This was the second time Jason Flynn (46) had caused fire damage to the same house in Shankill, Dublin. Fire Flames inside the home. The family of five was only awakened by a neighbour who noticed the blaze in the early hours of the morning and they were lucky they were not killed in the December 2024 incident, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard today. This was the second time Jason Flynn (46) had caused fire damage to the same house in Shankill, Dublin, with the court hearing he used to live in the house next door and set fire to that when he was evicted by the local council in 2001. The 2001 fire also caused damage to the house in the current case along with a third house, Garda Stephen Ryan told Karl Moran BL, prosecuting. Flynn, of Longford House, Spencer Dock, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to one count of arson at an address in Shankill on December 5, 2024 and one count of possessing cannabis for sale or supply at his home on December 23, 2024. Gardai found the drugs, with a street value of just under €2,000, on his kitchen table when they came to arrest him for arson. Fire Flames inside the home. Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 1st He has 19 previous convictions including arson, assault causing serious harm and assault. A letter from Flynn outlining his motive for starting the fire was handed into court, but not read aloud. The court heard it related to a grievance he had with a previous occupant of the house. Defence counsel said Flynn had mental health issues and things went 'awry' when he stopped taking his medication. The mother of the affected family read out her victim impact statement in court, outlining the upset and trauma they have all faced in the wake of the fire. She said she was always very fire and security conscious and had recently installed a new front door and new windows in her home. She said a fire officer later told her that the fire would have entered the house within five minutes if it hadn't been for the new door. A five-year-old grandson was staying with another family member that night and the woman said they often think about how he could have woken up the following morning to find that every member of his maternal family – including his mother – was dead. She said that having lived in the house next door for some years, Flynn would have been aware that the family would have to walk past the source of the fire to escape from the terraced house. She felt Flynn meant to cause them 'great harm', she said. Although he had lived next door to them and he had caused fire damage to the house when her elderly parents were living there, she said she had not seen him since 2001 and had no issue with him. Read more CCTV footage played in court showed Flynn approaching the house at 2.45am on the night in question and setting the car in the driveway alright at both the front and rear. He then walked away and surveyed the scene before returning to the front door where he set a Christmas wreath ablaze. A neighbour phoned the occupants about 15 minutes after it had started to alert them. The car exploded into flames and they had to walk past the alight front door to escape, getting out a back door. Flynn was easily identifiable to gardaí from doorbell coverage of him setting fire to the Christmas wreath and when gardaí went to arrest him on December 23, they found a bag of cannabis on his kitchen table with a street value of €1,999. Flynn said he was not drug dealing but was 'feeling generous' and going to give it to his friends and not charge them money, the court heard. Defence counsel Michael Hourigan SC said Flynn had a difficult upbringing. 'There are associations he makes with that particular area and his childhood,' he said of the house in Shankill. He said Flynn's partner was in court to support him. Sentencing Flynn today, Judge Martin Nolan noted Flynn drove 19 kilometres from his home that night to the Shankill address to start the fire 'with malice and forethought'. 'There was a chance that if the neighbours hadn't notice the fire, the fire would have eventually penetrated the door, entered the house and much more serious consequences could have occurred,' the judge said. He said Flynn set fire to the house in an act of 'misplaced vengeance towards the house'. 'The problem with fire is once it's started, no one knows where it ends up,' the judge said. 'People could have died on this particular night.' Judge Nolan set a headline sentence of 10 to 12 years and then reduced it to seven years, taking into account the fact that Flynn's guilty pleas were signed guilty pleas from the District Court.
Sunday World
19 hours ago
- Sunday World
Episode 1065: Five to stand trial at special criminal court over alleged torture linked to Hennessy home
They're accused of waterboarding and branding a man with a cattle rod The five men will go on trial at the Special Criminal Court Five men who are accused of waterboarding and branding a man with a cattle rod have been sent forward for trial at the Special Criminal Court. Three sons of murdered Jason Hennessy, shot dead at Browne's Steakhouse during a Christmas celebration, and a father and son will stand trial for the brutal attack the victim alleged he underwent after calling to the Hennessy family home. Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the case. MORE EPISODES
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Irish Examiner
Bilingual barrister comes to aid of 'nervous' translator in Special Criminal Court
A bilingual barrister came to the rescue at the Special Criminal Court today when a "nervous" interpreter on his first day struggled to translate for a group of Spanish men charged with drug offences. The three-judge court was expecting to be updated on whether a group of six men would require trial dates for allegedly conspiring to import a large quantity of drugs into Ireland. As prosecution counsel Tessa White began to speak, Ms Justice Karen O'Connor, presiding, became concerned that the Spanish interpreter was not translating what was being said. The judge turned to Cathal McGreal, defending, saying: "You have good Spanish, are you satisfied that what is being translated is accurate?" "No," Mr McGreal replied. The court gave the parties time to tell their clients what was happening. When the court resumed, Mr McGreal explained that the interpreter has worked previously in hospitals but never in a court setting. "The interpreter is perfectly capable but he got very nervous and was worried if he could continue," Mr McGreal said. He said the interpreter would be able to translate the rest of the day's business which required nothing more than setting dates for a next appearance. Juan Antonio Gallardo Barroso, aged 56, of no fixed address in Spain, is one of 10 men charged following the massive seizure of drugs in 2024. Picture Larry Cummins Ms Justice O'Connor heard that two of the accused, Ali Ghasemi Mazidi, aged 50, with an address in the Netherlands, and Raul Tabares Garcia, aged 48, of Cadiz in Spain, will require trial dates. Ms White said the trial is likely to take four to six weeks. Ms Justice O'Connor adjourned the matter to July 21, when she will set a trial date. Co-defendants Sean Curran, aged 37, with an address at Carrickyheenan, Aughnacloy, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, Juan Antonio Gallardo Barroso, aged 56, of no fixed address in Spain, Pedro Pablo Ojeda Ortega, aged 36, of Cadiz, and Angel Serran Padilla, aged 40, of Malaga will have their cases mentioned again on July 7. In total, 10 men from Ireland, Spain, Serbia, and the Netherlands are charged with conspiring with one another to do an act in the State that constitutes a serious offence, namely the importation of controlled drugs in excess of €13,000 on dates between February 27 and March 14, 2024, both dates inclusive. The alleged offence is contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. Gardaí arrested the ten men in March last year during operations in the villages of Tragumna and Leap near Skibbereen in west Cork, where a jeep, camper van, articulated truck, and rigid inflatable boat were seized as part of the suspected drug smuggling operation.
