Beautician was 'naive' when she tried to help partner evade murder arrest, court told
Dominic McGinn SC, for Rachel Redmond (35), said on Monday that despite his client's plea of not guilty, she now accepts the jury's verdict and understands why they convicted her. The barrister asked for leniency for Redmond, the younger sister of career criminal Robert "Roo" Redmond, with the court hearing she once worked in security for the Saudi Arabian embassy.
Advertisement
Mr McGinn said the relationship with Cooney "fed into her behaviour" and prevented her from "realising what would have been abundantly obvious to everyone else".
Redmond wrote a letter of apology to the family of Jordan Davis, who Wayne Cooney shot dead in an execution-style killing on May 22nd, 2019, at a laneway beside Our Lady Immaculate Junior National School in Darndale on Dublin's northside.
Mr Davis was pushing his four-month-old son in a pram when Cooney cycled up behind him and fired eight shots, three of which struck him, causing immediate death. A child who happened to be cycling through the laneway was just metres away when Cooney started firing.
Cooney fled the scene on his bicycle and went to a bus stop near the Clarehall Shopping Centre, where Rachel Redmond arranged to pick him up in her friend's car. That night, she arranged for Cooney to stay at the Clayton Hotel.
Advertisement
A jury convicted Redmond, from Coolock but with an address at Cliftonville Avenue, North Belfast, Co Antrim, of attempting to impede Cooney's apprehension or prosecution while knowing or believing him to have committed murder. Following her conviction, she shouted from the dock: "I didn't do it though, I didn't do anything."
She had taken the stand at her trial, saying that she did not know what Cooney had done, that she was in love with him and was unable to see the bad in him.
Mr McGinn on Monday told the court that Redmond now accepts the jury verdict. He asked Mr Justice Paul Burns to consider that, despite his client's efforts to impede the investigation, gardaí did arrest Wayne Cooney and he was convicted of murder. Redmond was, counsel said, "perhaps naive, blinded by the relationship and turned a blind eye rather than deliberately setting out to commit a crime."
Asking for leniency, Mr McGinn pointed out his client's "solid work record" over her adult life. She has worked as a beautician, including for the IFSC and Aer Lingus. She has also worked in security for the Saudi Arabian embassy and for the psychiatric unit at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.
Advertisement
Mr McGinn handed in testimonies from Redmond's mother, father and a former employer.
The testimonials refer to her as a "hard-working, kind, loving young lady" for whom these offences are "very much out of character", Mr McGinn said.
Mr Justice Burns adjourned the matter to next Monday to deliver sentence.
In April, 2024 Rachel Redmond's brother, Robert 'Roo' Redmond, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder Jordan Davis. Text exchanges showed that Robert Redmond was demanding Mr Davis repay him a drug debt of €70,000.
Advertisement
Ireland
Convicted killer Robert Redmond pleads guilty to m...
Read More
In one exchange, 19 days before Cooney carried out the murder, Robert Redmond warned Mr Davis: "I'm on your case mate, it won't be long" and "soon, very soon bang bang".
A career criminal, Robert Redmond had 99 previous convictions, including two counts for possession of firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
In 2022, Robert Redmond received the mandatory term of life imprisonment for murdering father-of-eight Barry Wolverson (40) at Madigan's Yard, Kileek Lane, Swords, Co Dublin on January 17th, 2020.
Following Rachel Redmond's trial, the jury took seven hours and 33 minutes over three days to unanimously accept the State's case that she drove Cooney away from the scene and later checked him into the Clayton Hotel near Dublin Airport on the night of the murder.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
Hundreds attend solidarity gig in Dublin for Kneecap rapper
Hundreds of people have attended a music session in Dublin city in solidarity with Kneecap rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh after he appeared in court on Wednesday. Kneecap flags and logos hung from the windows in Connolly Books, which dubs itself Ireland's oldest radical bookshop, in solidarity with O hAnnaidh, Kneecap, and the people of Palestine. Pro-Palestine supporters criticised the decision by British authorities to bring a charge against the performer instead of focusing on the Israeli government's actions against the Palestinian people. O hAnnaidh, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in November last year. Hundreds of Kneecap supporters greeted O hAnnaidh as he arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Wednesday morning, alongside fellow Kneecap rappers Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh. During the hearing, his defence team argued the case should be thrown out, citing a technical error in the way the charge against him was brought. The case has been adjourned until September 26, when the judge will rule on whether he has the jurisdiction to try the case. At the protest session at Connolly Books on Wednesday afternoon, several artists played Irish traditional music in solidarity with Kneecap. Dubliner Aoife Powell, 19, said she came out to protest because she is 'angry' at the decision to charge an artist rather than focus on what is happening to the people of Gaza. 'I'm here because it just worries me that the fact that governments are focused on artists expressing themselves rather than the actual problem, which is obviously the genocide in Gaza,' she told the PA news agency. 'It's a little bit disheartening to see there's so much pressure being put on these artists to stop saying what they truly think and to stop standing on the right side of history. 'I feel like it's a distraction from what's actually happening. 'When a government tries to silence people, they should learn that they can never silence people. I feel like the public would get more angry at that.' Sean O'Grady is from Coleraine in Northern Ireland but has lived in Dublin for almost 70 years. 'I'm delighted with them (Kneecap), that they've done what they're doing, and they're getting plenty of publicity. 'The British government are crazy, I mean, what are they at? 'They're supplying a lot of the bombs, and a lot of the arms and ammunition to Israel to do what they're doing. So they should be ashamed of themselves instead of bringing in these people (to court) for stupid reasons. 'It's getting good publicity over there for the cause of the Palestinians.' Dubliner Dermot Nolan said he attended his first Palestine protest in 1967, and while he remembers horrific events such as the Vietnam War, the scale of death and injuries in Gaza is the worst he has ever lived through. 'I'm here because it's important to for two reasons – first of all, to show our intolerance of the genocide and slaughter that's being carried out by the US, Nato and Israel. 'The second reason is the question of civil rights. We're protesting about the indictment of a member of the Irish group Kneecap. 'It is a sign of creeping authoritarianism which is happening in all the western countries and most clearly in Britain.'
The Sun
18 minutes ago
- The Sun
Watch shocking moment TV reporter is ROBBED by bike-riding phone snatcher live on camera
THIS is the shocking moment a TV reporter is robbed by a bike-riding phone snatcher live on camera. The jaw-dropping footage showed the journalist preparing to speak outside a prison in Brazil - before a brazen cyclist swooped in and grabbed her mobile. 3 3 TV reporter Beatriz Casadei was moments away from speaking on morning news programme Balanco Geral when the terrifying ordeal unfolded. She was standing outside Pinheiros Provisional Detention Centre IV in Sao Paulo, just by the prison's gates. In the astonishing clip, she is seen holding her phone and staring at the camera - before a cyclist suddenly comes into the frame. He stretches out his arm and in one smooth movement rips the device from her hands. At breakneck pace, he continues to ride off as the reporter looks completely stunned. She reels back in shock and appears to walk towards the thief. Beatriz had been waiting for her cue to go live when the crook struck. She went to a police station after the startling ordeal to register the crime. Luckily, she was unharmed and later returned to work. Staggering footage of the robbery has now gone viral on social media. Shock moment TV reporter screams as she is mugged moments before going live on air by motorbike phone snatcher The shocking footage emerged just weeks after a strikingly similar ordeal was caught on camera, which also unfolded in Brazil. Last month, another news reporter became the victim of an attempted mugging just moments before going live on air - with the crime caught on camera. Brazilian journalist Clara Nery was gearing up to appear on camera when a phone robber swept in. The clip of her begins with her typing a message on her phone in the run up to the broadcast. But in the background, a man on a motorbike slowly closes in on her as she continues texting. As he drives past, he tries to swipe her phone straight out of her hand. Nery screams in shock and swears at the man. However, she later confirmed she was able to keep hold of the device as she had a tight grip on it. She said: "I had my back turned when this man rode by on a motorcycle on the sidewalk and tried to take my phone. "In the video, you can see the moment he puts his hand on my phone and takes it from me. "Luckily, I was holding on tightly."
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Dublin Bus driver (63) beaten with metal object in random daylight attack, court told
A Dublin Bus driver was beaten on the back of the head with punches and a metal object during a "random and unprovoked" daylight street attack in the capital, a court has heard. Romanian national Ionut Christian Biraz (39), of no fixed address, who arrived in Ireland three months ago, was charged with assault causing harm to the 63-year-old driver at Beresford Place in the city centre and production of a weapon during the incident at about 2pm on Tuesday. Advertisement He appeared before Judge Brennan at Dublin District Court on Wednesday and was refused bail. Garda Katherine Ward cited flight risk and Mr Biraz's lack of ties to the State, the seriousness of the case and fears for public safety. She alleged that Mr Biraz used a metal implement and attacked the driver in a random and unprovoked manner for no reason. She said the Dublin Bus driver had been walking home after his shift and was "struck in the back of the head with a metal article, 12 inches in length, from behind". Advertisement The contested bail hearing was told that before the victim "registered what occurred, he punched him again to the back of his head from behind, which caused him to fall to the ground." The court heard that there were several people on the street at the time, and the officer said that it was fortunate that gardaí were in the immediate area. Directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions have to be obtained, and an additional charge could be brought, the court heard. It will be recommended that the case proceed to the Circuit Court, which can impose lengthier sentences. Garda Ward cited the level of aggression and violence used, adding that gardai had to use pepper spray to arrest him. Advertisement The garda said the driver suffered swelling to his head and neck and significant emotional distress and was "quite shook up" afterwards. The article used to strike him has also been seized. Ireland Man (43) charged with attacking Swiss tourist on D... Read More She agreed with defence solicitor Eoin Lysaght that Mr Biraz had the presumption of innocence and, about comments he made in his interview, English was not his first language. However, she informed the judge that an interpreter was present. In response to the garda's belief that the accused was planning to leave the country, Mr Lysaght said his client had no means after losing his job due to having no PPS number. Judge Brennan did not accept that he was a flight risk but refused bail on the other grounds. Mr Biraz, who listened to the proceedings with the help of an interpreter, was granted legal aid, and the judge also directed he gets medical attention in custody. He will appear again at Cloverhill District Court on Thursday.
