FORMER DUBLIN assistant city and county manager George Redmond walked free from court yesterday after a jury found him not guilty of one of two charges in his corruption trial.
They failed to reach a majority verdict on another charge. The prosecution must now decide whether to re-enter the charge and return to the court in one week. The jury found him not guilty of receiving a £10,000 bribe from the late Fianna Fáil councillor Patrick Dunne “as a reward for showing favour to another”, in relation to a compulsory purchase order (CPO) on 167 acres of land at Buzzardstown and Coolmine, in northwest Dublin, when he was assistant county manager.
Later, the jury foreman told Judge Joseph Matthews that it was unable to reach the required majority of 10-1 on the second charge that Mr Redmond got the money “as an inducement” in respect of the CPO.
The jury’s disagreement on the second charge came after four hours and 35 minutes of deliberation on day 18 of the trial at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court and after it spent one night in a hotel.
Judge Matthews thanked the three women and eight men for their “obvious care and attention to all the detail of a lengthy trial” and excused them from further jury service for five years.
Mr Redmond (83) of College Gate, Castleknock, Co Dublin, who retired in June 1989, had pleaded not guilty to the two charges of receiving the £10,000 from the late Mr Dunne on a date between October 10th, 1985, and June 26th, 1989. The CPO was made in 1985.
The case will be mentioned in June at the court when the Director of Public Prosecutions will announce if a further trial will be held on the outstanding charge.
The trial continued with 11 jurors after one juror realised he was a distant relative of someone reported previously as being associated with Mr Redmond in relation to the case.
Mr Redmond was arrested by gardaí in 1999, and told them he had received £10,000 from Mr Dunne. However, he later retracted this statement when giving evidence to the planning tribunal. Brendan Grehan SC, for Mr Redmond, had argued there was no evidence his client had acted improperly.