Witness intimidation fears if man accused of conspiring with garda killer given bail, court hears
A DETECTIVE INSPECTOR has told the Special Criminal Court that he is concerned about potential witness intimidation if a man accused of conspiring to steal cars with garda killer Aaron Brady is released on bail.
In his objections to bail for James Flynn (34), Det Inspector Mark Phillips today detailed numerous incidents of what he said were attempts to intimidate witnesses and jurors during Aaron Brady's trial for the murder of Det Gda Adrian Donohoe in 2020 at the Central Criminal Court.
He said James Flynn's father, Eugene Flynn Snr, asked the father of one 'critical' witness to stop his son giving evidence. A jury minder also made a statement to gardaí after he became 'concerned' about Mr Flynn Senior's behaviour towards jury members.
Det Inspector Phillips said Mr Flynn Snr and Aaron Brady's father, Tony Brady, attended throughout Brady's trial and behaved in a way that gardai believed was intended to intimidate members of the prosecution team and others.
He detailed instances in which it is alleged Mr Flynn Snr called gardaí liars, scum and 'f**king d**kheads'. He said Mr Flynn Snr accused gardaí of trying to 'stitch' him up and suggested that detectives had gotten a court security garda to 'bully' him.
Det Insp Phillips detailed further incidents during Brady's trial in which an associate of Brady's sent a prosecution witness a Snapchat message in which he used his fingers to depict a gun alongside the message: 'Silly little girl.'
Since the trial, video of the same witnesses' testimony has been released on social media by Tony Brady along with 'vitriolic commentary', Inspector Phillips said.
The detective also noted that during Brady's trial, Tony Brady would stand at the foyer of the court building with Mr Flynn Snr as the jury was walking out the front door. Det Insp Phillips said he formed the view that they were 'making their presence known' to the jury.
He further pointed out that Aaron Brady has pleaded guilty to conspiring with another man to dissuade one vital prosecution witness from giving evidence at his trial.
The detective told the court that he believes the 'campaign of intimidation of witnesses' will continue if James Flynn is released on bail.
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He said he also believes Mr Flynn, who had to be extradited from the UK in 2022 to face trial, is a flight risk as he is a citizen of both that country and the United States and has moved with ease among those jurisdictions in recent years.
Det Insp Phillips said Mr Flynn also has access to a significant amount of money. When he was arrested in the UK for extradition to Ireland, Mr Flynn offered £195,000 Stg and an independent surety of £965,000 when applying for bail, the inspector said.
Mr Flynn, with an address in Ravensglen, Newry, Co Down was originally charged with conspiracy to steal cars at various locations in the North East. He was further charged with participation in the robbery of the Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, Co Louth on January 25, 2013 in which Aaron Brady shot and killed Det Gda Donohoe.
The three-judge, non-jury Special Criminal Court acquitted Mr Flynn of the robbery charge but amended the conspiracy indictment to find him guilty of conspiring to steal the Volkswagen Passat used as the getaway car from a property in Clogherhead, Co Louth in January 2013.
Earlier this year, the three-judge Court of Appeal found that the decision by the Special Criminal Court to amend the indictment against Mr Flynn after his three-month long trial had finished and without consulting either the prosecution or defence legal teams, was a breach of Mr Flynn's right to constitutional natural justice.
At today's hearing, Inspector Phillips agreed with defence senior counsel Bernard Condon that during Mr Flynn's previous trial, there was no suggestion of witness interference.
In submissions to the court, Mr Condon said there is no evidence that Mr Flynn is a flight risk or that he will interfere with witnesses and there is nothing to link his client to the actions of his father or those of Tony Brady. 'We are not responsible for the sins of our brothers, nor are we responsible for the sins of our fathers,' counsel submitted.
The accused man has a closer relationship to his mother than his father, Mr Condon said, and he would have no objection if his father were excluded from the trial. He said his client has 'no connection' to Tony Brady, does not require his assistance or attendance at his trial and is a 'stranger to that man and anything he has to advance'.
Counsel described his client as a hardworking man who is devoted to his family and to providing for them. He is an honest man, counsel said, who is not going to 'disappear off the face of the earth' or turn his back on his wife and children.
Mr Condon said his client will agree to terms, including that he live with his mother-in-law in Co Monaghan rather than return home to Northern Ireland and will sign on twice daily at a garda station.
Ms Justice Karen O'Connor, presiding at the three-judge court, adjourned a decision to tomorrow morning.
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Irish Examiner
7 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
MV Matthew: How crime gang's ill-prepared crew fell afoul of Ireland's largest cocaine seizure
When six men were interviewed from Dubai for jobs by a major drug cartel masquerading as a flash shipping company, they grabbed the lucrative contracts. They then flew to South America and boarded a very large and somewhat rusty bulk cargo ship, empty of cargo, in Curaçao, off the coast of Venezuela. On their third night at sea, many of the 21 crew were plied with alcohol 'as a distraction'. As they got drunk, a few men were ordered to load a cargo of 'spare parts' off a shadowy ship that pulled up alongside, manned by heavily armed crew. Fear permeated the MV Matthew from that point, said the six men who have pleaded guilty to involvement in a plot to smuggle 2.25 tonnes of cocaine in the Panamanian-registered 190-metre-long, 32-metre-wide bulk cargo ship, after the ship was seized by Irish authorities off the Cork coast. The Panamanian-registered MV Matthew being escorted into Cork Harbour. File picture: PA They were promised bonuses to 'keep their mouths shut' about the cargo, they said. As the giant ship tracked slowly across the Atlantic, the Maritime Analysis and Operation Centre, an international organisation that monitors maritime traffic to dismantle drug trafficking, alerted Irish authorities that they were suspicious of the ship. The MV Matthew's actual course and its stated course had diverged, since it left the waters off Venezuela, tracked through automatic identification system (AIS) technology. Meanwhile, gardaí monitored four men in Ireland as they travelled to Glengarriff and then Castletownbere in Co Cork to buy the fishing trawler, The Castlemore, and sail it up the coast. This boat was to be the 'daughter' ship to collect drugs from the MV Matthew's 'mother ship' and was arranging to collect the 2.25 tonne cocaine consignment, worth some €157m, from the larger vessel off the Irish coast. Vitaliy Lapa's warning ignored A retired Ukrainian fishing captain, Vitaliy Lapa, aged 62, had been in Ireland since July, staying in hotels in Dublin and Newry that were paid for by his employers, a major transnational organised crime group, waiting for instructions. Vitaliy Lapa. File picture: Brian Lawless/PA Russia's invasion of Ukraine had pushed Lapa, a retired fishing captain, back out to work at sea as the conflict had imposed great financial pressures on his family, his counsel Colman Cody said. Lapa said he was told he would be paid €5,000, which 'considering the largesse from this enterprise, was a very paltry sum' for the risks of involvement, Mr Cody said. His English had been 'non-existent' when he came to Ireland in 2023, the Special Criminal Court heard. He had been hired for his seafaring experience. 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'There will be four jumbo bags, it will be a lot but just go like fuck mate to truck away,' one message from someone named Padre in messages, who was directing the operation from off the boat, said. Another message said the 'parcel' would comprise of 'six big jumbo bags tied together […] total weight 2.2T.' As the weather became increasingly stormy, tensions were clearly rising on the MV Matthew as it tried to convene the drop off. Soheil Jelveh. File picture: Jim Campbell The captain, Soheil Jelveh, complained of how 'these idiots were late again'. He also expressed concern about the worsening weather, saying a drop-off would be impossible in the growing swell. 'Daughter ship' ran aground The Castlemore ran aground off the Wexford coast on September 24, 2023. Terrified, exhausted, and sick, the crew issued a distress call after 11pm. 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The MV Matthew's captain, Iranian Soheil Jelveh, then called for a medical evacuation, being winched off the ship by the Irish Coast Guard and taken to hospital — bringing four phones, more than $52,000 in cash, and two suitcases. He was later arrested in hospital. MV Matthew's attempt to flee Meanwhile, the MV Matthew was trying to escape Irish territorial waters. They wrongly believed they could not be boarded by Irish authorities outside Irish territorial waters and planned to go to Sierra Leone for safety. The MV Matthew berthed at Marino Point, Cork Harbour, in September 2023 after it was seized in the multi-agency operation. File picture: Denis Minihane The crew had also been told to stay out of UK waters as Ireland only had VHF radio but the UK had more technology to communicate and track. 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That 'captain' told him to wait and he would call his 'lawyer friends'. 'Please make sure everything is deleted from phones,' a message from Dubai to the MV Matthew crew then said. 'Please don't lose your confidence,' another message from Dubai said. Another message said: We don't want single dollar from this operation. We don't want you to go to jail for nothing. Another message from the 'captain' in Dubai said: 'they've talked too much, show them some real action. 'Be confident, there is law stopping them from boarding the ship.' Incorrect information But the information sent on what constituted Irish territorial waters and their legal rights seemed to be AI-generated and was wrong. The boat headed out towards the high seas after repeatedly saying it would comply with the navy's order to proceed to the Port of Cork. 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He had largely retired to coach football and said he had been lured to Dubai by people offering a better education for his son there, a better life for his family, and help establishing a football foundation. Fellow Iranian Saied Hassani, 40, had worked at sea almost consistently since graduating from maritime college, which he started in 2005, so much so that he missed all of his six-year-old daughter's birthdays, the court heard. Saeid Hassani. File picture: Dan Linehan He has two sisters who need medical care — one is in a wheelchair and one has cancer — and he has worked to provide for his wider family since his father died, defence barrister Mark Lynam SC said in mitigation. However, messages did show him suggesting to the person in Dubai directing the ship remotely that that they should carry guns for the next operation. Cumali Ozgen, aged 49, originally from Turkey but living in the Netherlands for most of his life, was described as the 'eyes and ears' of the cartel on the ship. But his barrister Brendan Grehan said there was no suggestion he had an organising role. Cumali Ozgen. File picture: Dan Linehan He was the only one of the accused with no seafaring experience and his role seemed to be to communicate with Dubai and to mind the drugs. The court heard he had a son who had required brain surgery and he was trying to provide for his future. 'Immense capabilities, unlimited resources, global reach' A transnational organised crime group with 'immense capabilities, unlimited resources and a global reach,' directed the MV Matthew drug smuggling operation, Det Supt Keith Halley told the sentencing hearing for the eight men charged in connection with the seizure at the Special Criminal Court this week. And the crew aboard the MV Matthew were very much directed from voices in Dubai. But the technology they communicated through would ultimately reveal the second-by-second unfolding of the biggest drug seizure in the history of the State. Voice messages, text messages, photos, and videos, mostly captured from phones, showed the entire operation unfold. Guilty pleas All six men arrested onboard the MV Matthew have pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply on the ship between September 24 and 26, 2023. Lapa and Harbron have pleaded guilty to attempting to possess cocaine for sale or supply between September 21 and 25, 2023. The eight men will be sentenced on July 4, in the Special Criminal Court by Justice Melanie Grealy, Judge Sarah Berkeley, and Judge Gráinne Malone.
Sunday World
14 hours ago
- Sunday World
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Sunday World
2 days ago
- Sunday World
Young mum (27) pleads guilty to possession of guns and ammunition in Dublin
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