"I have suffered greatly at the hands of the establishment, but justice, which has been absent for so long, has been achieved here today." Mr Frank Shortt, of Redcastle, Co Donegal, who had just succeeded in his appeal against conviction for allowing drugs to be sold on his premises, was speaking to journalists after the brief hearing in the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday.
During that hearing, which was on a motion for discovery of documents relating to the appeal, counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Ms Miriam Reynolds, said that the DPP would not be opposing the appeal. Other matters relating to the appeal were adjourned to January 29th.
Ms Reynolds said that allegations had been made against a member of the Garda Siochana, which were under investigation. These had gone to the DPP to see if certain actions should be taken. In the light of the existence of these allegations, the DPP had decided not to resist the appeal.
In 1995 Mr Shortt was charged with knowingly allowing drugs to be sold in his nightclub. "There's no way I'd tolerate drugs", he said. "My wife and I have five children. It's not in our nature to tolerate drugs."
After an eight-day trial in the Circuit Criminal Court in Dublin Mr Shortt was convicted by a jury, fined £10,000 and sentenced to three years' imprisonment. He was released in 1998.
"I served the sentence in Mountjoy and Castlerea, mainly in Mountjoy. I never encountered drugs like I saw in Mountjoy," he said. "I served all but 11 days of it. I was only let off those days because of my health."
Following his release, he and his legal team started to conduct their own research, he said. This coincided with the emergence of allegations surrounding the activities of certain gardai in Donegal, which have ended up in an inquiry conducted by Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty.
The research carried out by the legal team led to the lodging of the appeal, which the DPP indicated yesterday he was not opposing.
This suggests that new material had come to light which, had it been known at the time of the trial, could have been of assistance to Mr Shortt's defence and could have cast doubt on evidence against him.
"I want to pay particular tribute to my legal team, Eoin McGonigal and Desmond Murphy", Mr Shortt said. "My wife and myself have suffered greatly. Shortly after I was sent to prison my nightclub was burned to the ground. My name was rubbished in the newspapers, locally and nationally. I am a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. The institute was considering striking me off."
This process was not proceeding, he said. He and his family were delighted with the outcome of the appeal, he added.