The Special Criminal Court yesterday refused an application to halt the trial of a man accused of murdering a garda.
Mr Paul McDermott SC submitted that the defence had been prejudiced because notes from a statement alleging the accused man had been identified were not available.
It was the fifth day of the trial of Mr Sean "Bap" Hughes (42), a father of three from Albert Terrace, Belfast, who denies the capital murder of Garda Patrick Reynolds (23), at Avonbeg Gardens, Tallaght, Co Dublin on February 20th, 1982. The charge carries a mandatory sentence of 40 years' imprisonment without remission on conviction.
Mr Hughes also denies the robbery of £62,100 from a bank in Askeaton, Co Limerick, on February 18th, 1982, receiving stolen cash and the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life in Tallaght on February 20th, 1982.
Garda Reynolds was killed by a single shot to the back as he tried to flee from a gunman.
The prosecution has claimed that gardai surprised a number of people with the proceeds of a bank robbery in Askeaton and a number of guns in a flat at Avonbeg Gardens, Tallaght.
A colleague of Garda Reynolds, retired Garda Sgt Patrick O'Brien, has told the trial that he had a clear look at the gunmen on the day of the shooting.
Mr O'Brien said yesterday that he searched for the gunman in Paris on November 6th, 1982. Mr O'Brien said that around 11.25 a.m. he noticed two men and two women walking in the Rue Amsterdam. He recognised a man with a beard, between five feet seven inches and five feet nine inches, wearing a black jacket, grey slacks and black shoes. The man's hair was dark with grey streaks, the court heard.
Mr O' Brien said he went back to his hotel to make notes, which he later used to write a statement in Dublin.
He said he handed the statement to someone in the investigating team. The notes were no longer available, he added.
Mr O' Brien identified a photocopy shown to him by prosecuting counsel Mr Eamonn Leahy SC as a copy of his original statement and he said he recognised the typing as his own.
He admitted that the man he had seen at Avonbeg Gardens on the night of the murder was clean-shaven but he said he had recognised the man from the nose upwards.
Mr Justice Morris said the availability of the original documents would be considered when the court decides on the admissibility of the identification evidence. The judge said the court did not believe the absence of original documents prejudiced the defence.
The trial continues today.