A man charged with the double murder of two young men whose bodies were dumped in the Grand Canal has told the Central Criminal Court the charges were dropped without explanation last Monday.
The court today lifted a gagging order preventing the media from mentioning the murder charges, or that they were withdrawn, after the accused informed the jury himself, despite contrary advice from trial judge Mr Justice Liam McKechnie.
Mark Desmond, formerly of Lally Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin has pleaded not guilty to unlawful possession of three shotguns and one rifle with intent to endanger life at Lally Road between October 1st 1999 and February 17th 2000. He also denies unlawful possession of a 12-gauge shotgun cartridge with intent to endanger life on the same date.
He alleged the chief prosecution witness, Ms Rachel Stephens, falsely implicated him in the murders of Darren Carey and Patrick Murray. The bodies of the victims, aged 19 and 20, were recovered from the Grand Canal, near Karneystown, co Kildare, on January 9th and 10th, 2000.
The jury heard that Ms Stephens, who is now in the Witness Protection Programme, subsequently retracted her statement implicating the accused in the murders.
Mark Desmond, who is defending himself, alleged her statement contained a number of serious inaccuracies. He said Ms Stephens alleged Patrick Murray and Darren Carey were put into his Punto car from which their bodies were dumped when in fact that car had been "off the road" before the murders.
He further claimed Ms Stephens, a former heroin addict, was pressurised into making statements against the accused in February 2000.
In evidence, Det Inspector Padraig Kennedy told the court he did not know why the charges were dropped as that was a matter for the DPP. He also denied that Ms Stephens was under any pressure from gardai.
The accused then put it to the witness that Mr Tony Long had been arrested for the same firearms offences with which the accused is now charged. He told the court that Mr Long claims that while in custody, senior gardai informed him they had serious reservations about the guilt of the man who was then charged with the murders. This referred to the accused, Mr Mark Desmond.
Det Inspector Kennedy replied that he was not aware that Mr Long had been arrested.
"Well I'm after telling you he was" the accused said.
The court heard that another prosecution witness, Mr Jonathon Desmond, made statements implicating the accused in the firearms charge. Det Inspector Kennedy agreed that he had not implicated Mr Desmond in the double murder.
The accused told the jury he is being "stitched up" on "trumped up" firearms charges now before the court and as a result spent two and a half years in custody.