The trial of two men on murder charges has been delayed until the Garda investigation into the McBrearty case in Donegal is complete.
In the Central Criminal Court yesterday Mr Justice Murphy granted a defence application for an adjournment, after rejecting the application on Monday.
Mr Justice Murphy heard a submission from counsel for the DPP on Monday afternoon, during which Mr Edward Comyn SC said the DPP had given certain directions and, erring on the side of caution, the prosecution was now consenting to the adjournment application.
The judge allowed the adjournment yesterday, and Mr Raymond Casey and a youth who cannot be named as he was a minor at the time were remanded on bail.
Mr Raymond Casey (36), of John Carew Park, Limerick, and the youth have pleaded not guilty to the murder of a barman, Mr Noel Pyper (48), in the city on August 12th, 1997.
On Monday morning the judge had ruled that the trial should proceed and had rejected an application by Mr Casey's legal team seeking all documents relating to the internal Garda inquiry into the McBrearty case.
The expected contents of the defence application had been reported in Saturday's Irish Independent. But Mr Comyn told the court hearing on Monday that his instructions were clear: the officer who was the subject of the newspaper allegations was not the subject of an internal Garda inquiry.
An affidavit from the defence solicitor, Mr John Devane, was opened in court on Monday morning. In it, Mr Devane said he had learned last week that his client was in contact with a private investigator to ascertain if any gardai involved in his investigation had also been involved in another complaint or were the subject of a Garda investigation.
The affidavit alleged that a named garda was currently under investigation for misconduct and had fabricated confessions. Ms Grainne McMorrow, defending, sought all documents pertaining to the McBrearty investigation and adjournment of the Casey trial.