Attempted robbery charge challenged

A Dublin man charged in connection with the attempted robbery of a cash transit van in Co Kildare last November has secured leave from the High Court to bring proceedings aimed at halting his prosecution.

Eamonn Dunne (31), of Dunsoughly Drive, Ratoath Road, Finglas, who is charged with conspiring with five others to steal more than €900,000 cash at Tesco, Shackleton Road, Celbridge, Co Kildare on November 2nd 2007, claims the conduct of the DPP in his case amounts to an abuse of process and a "deliberate and conscious" violation of his constitutional rights.

Mr Dunne was due to appear before the District Court today in connection with the charges against him but his lawyers may now seek to defer that appearance pending the outcome of his judicial review proceedings.

Mr Dunne was in custody from November 5th until Tuesday last when the High Court ruled as "impermissible" his rearrest and subsequent detention by gardaí last Friday minutes after the court had ruled his detention was unlawful and directed his release.

Mr Dunne was rearrested on Friday afternoon outside the court, brought before the District Court on Saturday, recharged with the same offence and remanded in custody.

The High Court had earlier on Friday ruled the detention was in breach of Mr Dunne's constitutional rights on grounds that the District Court had, on January 3rd last, exceeded its jurisdiction by extending time for service of the Book of Evidence on Mr Dunne without first hearing any evidence to support the application for extension of time.

On Tuesday, the High Court ruled the rearrest was "impermissible" as it set at naught the High Court's earlier order for release. Mr Justice Michael Peart described the rearrest as "a device to continue the detention which had been declared unlawful".

Yesterday, Alan Toal, for Mr Dunne, secured leave from Mr Justice Peart to bring judicial review proceedings preventing his client's prosecution on grounds including the DPP's conduct of the prosecution to date.

The action is against the DPP and District Judge John Lindsay. Mr Dunne claims his rearrest last Friday and recharging last Saturday before the District Court was "a colourable device" by the DPP to deliberately frustrate the release order made earlier by the High Court and to continue his detention in breach of his rights.

It is also claimed that the judge failed to take into account submissions made to him last Saturday related to what had happened in the High Court on Friday and had misdirected himself in law in determining he had jurisdiction to hear the matter and to remand Mr Dunne in custody.

The judge had failed to take cognisance of the fact that Mr Dunne had been remanded on January 3rd last by another District Court judge, Judge Hamill, on a charge in precisely similar terms, it was claimed. The detention on that initial charge had been condemned by the High Court on January 11th, it was stated. Mr Dunne claims he fears the DPP will apply to the District Court to strike out the original charge and seek to have him remanded in custody on the basis of the charge preferred against him last Saturday. He claims this is impermissible as the "unconstitutional misbehaviour" identified by him was not severable. Any attempt to rely on the second charge would be a further and continuing abuse of process, he claims.

Another man charged in connection with the same offence has also challenged the legality of his detention. Mr Justice Peart has reserved judgment on the application for release by Joseph Warren (25) of Belclare Crescent, Ballymun.