Garda killer Aaron Brady and a man he conspired with to pervert the course of justice during his capital murder trial have been sentenced by the Special Criminal Court to a combined total of five years in prison.
As Brady is already serving a life sentence for murdering Det Garda Adrian Donohoe, the three-year sentence handed down on Monday will make no difference to the time he serves.
Brady accepted he was responsible for recording footage of an interview between gardaí and Ronan Flynn, a witness who said he had heard Brady admit to shooting Det Garda Donohoe three times. The video was later posted on social media accusing Mr Flynn of “touting” and calling him a “rat”.
Mr Flynn did not give evidence at Brady’s trial and Mr Justice Michael White, who oversaw the case, described the release of the footage as “the most outrageous contempt of court” and a clear attempt to intimidate Flynn and other witnesses.
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Brady’s co-conspirator, Dean Byrne, of Cabra Park, Phibsborough, Dublin, was due to be released later this year having spent the last 10 years in prison for multiple offences including aggravated burglary. He has 127 previous convictions.
Following his conviction last month for conspiring to persuade a witness in Brady’s trial not to give evidence, Mr Justice Paul Burns imposed a two-year sentence on Byrne that will begin when his previous sentences expire.
Mr Justice Burns said the offences committed by Brady and Byrne go to the heart of the administration of justice. In this case, he said, it involved interference in the “extremely grave offence” of capital murder. Any attempt by individuals to place themselves above the law risks “fundamentally undermining the criminal justice system and cannot be tolerated in a democratic society,” he said.
However, the judge noted that the attempts to dissuade witnesses did not involve violence, threats or inducements. Therefore, he said the sentence imposed must reflect society’s intolerance of unlawful interference in the administration of justice, but must also bear in mind the means used.
He said the court arrived at headline sentences of five years for Brady and four years for Byrne. Having considered mitigating factors, and the fact both men are already serving lengthy sentences, he reduced those to three years and two years respectively.
In August 2020, Brady (33), formerly of New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, was convicted by a jury of the murder of Det Garda Donohoe during a credit union robbery at Lordship, Bellurgan, Co Louth on January 25th, 2013.
Earlier this year Brady pleaded guilty to a charge that, on a date between February 20th and May 7th, 2020 within the State, he recorded the playing of an interview between Mr Flynn and An Garda Síochána, thus embarking on a course of conduct intended to pervert the course of justice.
Mr Flynn spoke to gardaí in October 2017 while he was living in New York. He told them he had shared an apartment with Brady and he often heard the defendant admit to shooting Det Garda Donohoe. Mr Flynn said Brady would get drunk and listen to the Wolfe Tones and get “angry and frustrated with himself” and say things like: ‘Sure f**k it, I shot a guard’.
A video of parts of Mr Flynn’s interview was uploaded to WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook with text accusing him of “touting” and claiming he had charges against him in the US dropped in return for his statement.
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