Aaron Brady to face non jury Special Criminal Court over witness plot

Garda killer Aaron Brady will stand trial in the non-jury Special Criminal Court for plotting to pervert the course of justice.

Brady (31), and alleged accomplice Dean Byrne are charged with conspiring to persuade a key State witness not to testify during his trial for murdering Detective Adrian Donohoe.

Gardaí served them with books of evidence on Friday.

Brady, of New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, had denied capital murder of Detective Garda Donohoe during a robbery at Lordship Credit Union in Co Louth on January 25th, 2013.

He was jailed for life after being found guilty at the Central Criminal Court in August 2020.

Following a Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation inquiry, Brady and two others were charged on April 4th with other offences.

He is accused of conspiring with Dean Byrne at Mountjoy Prison to persuade Daniel Cahill, a prosecution witness in his trial, not to give evidence, to pervert the course of public justice, between April 8th and June 22nd, 2020.

During the trial, Mr Cahill testified he overheard Brady say he shot a garda.

Brady is alaso charged that on a date unknown between February 20th and May 7th, 2020, he recorded the playing of a video of a witness interview between Ronan Flynn and members of the Garda, thus embarking upon a course to pervert the course of public justice.

The offences can, on conviction, result in unlimited fines and jail sentences.

The case resumed before Judge Victor Blake at Cloverhill District on Friday when Brady appeared via video link from Portlaoise Prison.

State solicitor Michelle Sheeran told Judge Blake that the Director of Public Prosecutions had decided the ordinary courts were not suitable for the administration of justice in this case.

She asked the judge to grant a return for trial order to a sitting of a Special Criminal Court.

Judge Blake agreed to grant the order.

The same trial venue order was made for Dean Byrne, who also appeared via video link. There was no application for bail.

Previously, the court heard that Mr Brady and co-accused Byrne (29), from Cabra Park, Phibsborough, Dublin, made no reply when charged.