The sentencing of a Newry man for importing £1.5 million worth of ecstasy was adjourned at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday because of a newspaper article which claimed he had previous IRA links.
Judge Frank O'Donnell adjourned the hearing until today, to consider opening an inquiry into a Sunday Times article of March 28th. He said he was unaware of the article, which quoted alleged Garda sources as providing the information claimed in it, and he wondered why it had not been brought to his attention.
Declan Donaghy (27), of Parkview, Newtowncloughe, Newry, Co Down, is to be sentenced for importing the drugs into Dublin Port on April 29th, 1998. A jury found him guilty on March 24th after a three-week trial.
Mr Brendan Grogan SC, defending, read from the Sunday Times article which claimed Donaghy had smuggled fertiliser explosives to Britain in the early 1990s.
He said Donaghy's family now feared for their lives and were very upset. His wife and young children were at risk from people not party to the present peace process. The article was a blatant attempt to influence the court and was clearly in contempt.
It alleged Donaghy had smuggled the explosives before he received his PSV licence to drive a lorry.
Mr Grogan requested that the editor of the Sunday Times be called to court to explain why the article was published before Donaghy was sentenced on the drugs charge.
Mr Padraig Dwyer, prosecuting, said that during Donaghy's trial he had been cross-examined on the basis that he was of previous good character. There had been no mention of any other matters, apart from road traffic offences. Mr Dwyer said he agreed with Mr Grogan that the Sunday Times article was an attempt "to blacken a man due for sentence".
Mr Grogan said that fact only made the situation worse. It might be the case that gardai were saying in court that Donaghy was of previous good character and then telling journalists he was smuggling explosives to Britain. He added that during the Thomas "Slab" Murphy libel case, the editor of the Sunday Times was called to answer a contempt charge.
In Donaghy's case, a verdict had been reached but it was as wrong to attempt to influence a judge as a jury. Judge O'Donnell sympathised with the Donaghy family and said the matter was of grave concern.
"I cannot understand how certain sections of the media would highlight people in vulnerable positions. It's almost subjecting them to targeting," he added.