Trial begins of four men accused of abducting QIH director Kevin Lunney

THE TRIAL OF four men who deny falsely imprisoning and causing serious harm to Quinn Industrial Holdings Director Kevin Lunney will hear CCTV, DNA, phone location data and other circumstantial evidence from about 250 witnesses, a barrister told the Special Criminal Court this morning.

Opening the trials of the four men, Sean Guerin SC for the Director of Public Prosecutions said the case is a complex one but resolves itself into “a few relatively simple propositions.”

He said the three-judge, non-jury court will hear evidence that blood with DNA matching Mr Lunney was found in a Renault Kangoo van that Guerin said is linked to three of the accused men by CCTV and phone location data. He said the prosecution will show that the van travelled from Dublin to Cavan on the day of the assault and the previous day.

The fourth man, Luke O’Reilly, is connected to the assault and imprisonment because, counsel said, it occurred on his land and, when the attackers wanted bleach to “conceal their trail” they turned to Mr O’Reilly.

Guerin said CCTV footage will show Mr O’Reilly buying a bottle of bleach near the time of the assault.

The first witness this afternoon is a photographer with the Garda Technical Bureau who took photos of various places of interest to the investigation.

Luke O’Reilly (67), with an address at Mullahoran Lower, Kilcogy, Co Cavan; Darren Redmond (27), from Caledon Road, East Wall, Dublin 3; Alan O’Brien (40), of Shelmalier Road, East Wall, Dublin 3 and a fourth accused man aged 40 today all pleaded not guilty to false imprisonment and causing serious harm to Mr Lunney at Drumbrade, Ballinagh, Co Cavan on 17 September 2019.

The fourth man cannot be named by order of the court as he is due to face trial on other, unrelated matters.

Guerin said Mr Lunney (51) was put into the boot of a car close to his home in Co Fermanagh on the evening of 17 September. He was taken to a trailer where he was threatened and his leg was broken.

He was doused in bleach and a knife was used to carve letters into his chest before he was left on a roadside in Co Cavan.

Updates to follow… Comments are closed as the case is ongoing.