THE STATE deliberately waited for lobbyist Frank Dunlop to be sentenced for bribery so he would “look better” as a witness in the trial of businessman Jim Kennedy on corruption charges, the Supreme Court has been told.
This was a tactical approach by the State to the decision to charge Mr Kennedy and an approach it was not entitled to take, Martin Hayden SC, for Mr Kennedy, argued yesterday. The tactic effectively amounted to “gentrification” of Mr Dunlop “to make him a better-looking prospect in front of a jury”.
Mr Hayden was opening an appeal by Mr Kennedy against a High Court decision rejecting his bid to stop his trial over alleged corrupt payments for land rezoning.
The High Court also dismissed a separate bid by Liam Cosgrave, a former Fine Gael councillor and senator, aimed at stopping his trial in connection with the same matter.
Both men deny the charges against them.
The charges relate to attempted rezoning of land owned by Jackson Way Properties at Carrickmines, Dublin, in 1992 and the rezoning of part of the lands in 1997.
Mr Kennedy, a father of 10, Cormorant Wharf, Queensway Quay, Gibraltar, is facing 16 charges of making corrupt payments to politicians relating to rezoning motions voted on by Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council concerning the land in Carrickmines.
In his High Court action, Mr Kennedy argued his rights to a fair trial under the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights had been breached. He contended there was, among other reasons, inexcusable delay before charges were brought.
The five-judge Supreme Court yesterday heard that Mr Kennedy’s appeal was being brought on a number of grounds including that the State was not entitled to wait to charge Mr Kennedy until Mr Dunlop was “effectively gentrified” for the purposes of the Kennedy trial.
In May 2009, Mr Dunlop, a former government press secretary, was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to corruption, with the final six months suspended.
In October 2010, Mr Kennedy was arrested and charged with corruption after he attended the High Court to oppose a bid by the Criminal Assets Bureau to seize some of the Carrickmines lands. The trial is on hold pending the outcome of his appeal.
In submissions, Mr Hayden argued that the High Court judge was wrong to have looked at documents over which a claim of privilege had been asserted which were prejudicial to his client’s case.
The judge also erred in accepting the delay in prosecuting Mr Kennedy was excusable, he added.
While the State contended it had had trouble tracking down Mr Kennedy, there was very little evidence of any attempt to find him, Mr Hayden said.
Mr Kennedy was in fact living openly at various addresses and RTÉ was able to locate him in the Isle of Man for a Prime Time special, he added.
It was submitted that the deaths of several material witnesses, including a number of Dublin county councillors, significantly prejudiced Mr Kennedy’s right to a fair trial, as did the unavailability of documents relating to the case.
The delay in prosecuting also caused Mr Kennedy considerable stress and anxiety, underlined by the fact that following his arrest in October 2010, he was taken from custody to hospital by ambulance and was later prescribed medications for his condition.
Mr Hayden complained that the High Court had said evidence relating to stress was not supported by medical evidence but there was objectively verifiable evidence of hospitalisation arising from the Garda investigation.
The hearing continues.