Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Kevin Lunney PA Images
Fermanagh

Four arrested in Kevin Lunney torture probe released

The two men and one woman were detained in the Fermanagh area by the PSNI on Thursday.

THREE PEOPLE ARRESTED by detectives investigating the kidnap and torture of Co Fermanagh businessman Kevin Lunney have been released unconditionally.

The two men, aged 23 and 61, and one woman, aged 61, were detained in the Fermanagh area on Thursday on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap; conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent; and assisting offenders.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland announced their release from custody in Omagh police station on Friday.

On Thursday, Gardaí arrested a man in his 30s in relation to the abduction and assault. He was detained at Cavan Garda Station.

On Saturday morning, Gardaí announced that he had been released without charge, and a file was being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Lunney, a director at Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH), was abducted outside his home near Derrylin, Co Fermanagh last September and taken to a horsebox across the border, where he was savagely beaten.

His attackers broke his leg, sliced his fingernails and face with a Stanley knife, carved QIH on his chest, and doused the father of six in bleach. They demanded his resignation during the ordeal.

The attack was the most serious in a six-year campaign of intimidation targeting the companies and directors that now control the business portfolio which was built up by fallen tycoon Sean Quinn, once Ireland’s richest man.

The Quinn family has repeatedly condemned the intimidation.

The Garda and PSNI established a joint investigation team to work on the case last November.

A serial criminal considered a key suspect in the kidnapping and torture died from a heart attack when police arrested him in Buxton, Derbyshire, last November.

Cyril McGuinness, known as Dublin Jimmy, was believed to have been hiding out in the area following the assault.

In December, four men were remanded in custody at a court in Co Cavan charged with the kidnap and torture of Lunney.