THREE OF seven persons being questioned as part of the Garda investigation into last weekend’s robbery of more than €7 million from the Bank of Ireland have lost their High Court challenge to the legality of their detention.
The three, two men and a woman, were arrested last Friday night, and brought proceedings under Article 40 of the Constitution arguing their detention was unlawful on grounds that, at the time on Sunday night when the District Court began to hear an application by gardaí to extend that detention, their period of lawful detention had expired.
The State successfully argued the detentions were lawful and the extension of detention was within time. It contended the 48-hour detention period expired at 9.55pm on Sunday before which time all seven detainees were in the District Court for the hearing of the applications to extend time.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Michael Peart ruled all three were lawfully detained. He added the applications raised important issues and he would give written reasons for his decision at a later date.
Eanna Mulloy SC, for one of the men, said his client was arrested at 9.55pm on Friday, February 27th, and held at the Bridewell Garda station, where he was questioned about alleged offences in relation to the 26/27th of February, including possession of a firearm.
Counsel said the maximum period of detention allowable under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State is 48 hours, after which a person has to be either released, charged or brought before the courts to seek an extension of their detention.
He said an application to extend the time of detention for all seven was heard on Sunday evening before District Court Judge Anne Watkin at the Bridewell District Court. The hearing started at 7pm.
The hearing in relation to the one man concluded at 9.12pm, after which the judge asked whether the applications relating to the remaining six could be heard together, but their lawyers required each application to be heard separately.
Mr Mulloy said the application regarding his client began at 10.45pm and concluded at 11.07pm, when Judge Watkin made an order extending detention by 24 hours. That was outside the lawful period, he contended.
Michael O’Higgins SC, representing a second man and a woman detained on Friday night at a house in Phibsboro as part of the same investigation and being held at Pearse Street Garda Station, also argued his clients’ detention was unlawful because the 48-hour time limit had expired when detention was extended.
Mr O’Higgins also argued that unsworn evidence was given at Sunday’s hearing by the Garda.
Rejecting the claims, Ronan Kennedy, for the DPP, argued all were in lawful detention and it was “nonsensical” to claim otherwise.
Det Supt Seamus Kane said the three were taken to a special sitting of the District Court on Sunday. He said the hearing of the first of the applications commenced at 7pm and the last did not conclude until midnight.
He said he was well aware of the time during the applications but lawyers for the prisoners wanted separate applications.
In his view, applications to extend time for six of the persons started at 9.17pm, when all were in the court. This time was noted in the records by Judge Watkin and was within the permitted limit.