Judgment reserved in `Tallaght Two' case

The Court of Criminal Appeal said yesterday it did not need to hear any further evidence to determine if there was a miscarriage of justice in the case of the "Tallaght Two". The three-judge court (Mr Justice Geoghegan, presiding, Mr Justice Kearns and Mr Justice Murphy) reserved judgment. The court has already heard evidence from Mr Joseph Grogan and Mr Joseph Meleady in which both said they were innocent of any involvement in the assault of Mr Eamon Gavin on February 26th, 1984, and the theft of his car.

It also heard evidence from Mr Brendan Walsh, who said he and two others, Mr Gordon Dunne and Mr Paul McDonnell, were involved in the incident. Mr Walsh said neither Mr Grogan nor Mr Meleady had any involvement.

Mr Grogan and Mr Meleady were jailed for five years after being convicted in 1985, when they were both aged 17, of the assault of Mr Gavin and causing malicious damage to his car. They were convicted on visual identification evidence of Mr Gavin and his son, Paul.

The convictions of both men were set aside by the Court of Criminal Appeal in 1995, but it refused to certify a miscarriage of justice on the grounds that two newly-discovered facts, which led to the convictions being quashed, were not before the juries at the original trial and retrial.

The Supreme Court found that the court had erred in its reason for refusing the certificate and directed it to rehear the issue.