(Pictured: Accused Mr Aaron Brady. Credit: Collins)

The judge overseeing the trial of a man charged with the capital murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe has apologised to the jury for delays in the trial, which began in January.

Mr Justice Michael White told the six men and seven women that they are not required until June 8 while the court deals with legal issues in their absence. He said he expects the trial to continue until the end of June but added that it’s “hard to predict”.

He said: “It has run past the time and I’m sorry for that. Matters ….read more

One of the victims of a serial sexual abuser has said the man will “not hold any power over us ever again”, a court has heard.

The Central Criminal Court heard that the 58-year-old man sexually assaulted 14 girls in his flat over a period of years in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The Dublin man, who cannot be named to protect the identities of the victims, had pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting four girls at his then home in Dublin on dates beginning in May 1994 and ending in February 2001.

Following a trial in March 2020, a jury returned guilty ….read more

(Pictured: Mr Justice Paul McDermott. Credit: Collins)

A judge has said that a child rapist used his membership of a voluntary paramedic organisation to target two boys who he then drugged and sexually assaulted.

In one attack, the 29-year-old Co Kildare man used an oxygen mask to force one 15-year-old victim to inhale a pain relief drug before sexually assaulting him. In a second attack the accused raped the unconscious child while another man recorded it on his mobile phone.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victims, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to oral rape ….read more

A car identification expert has said a BMW belonging to a suspect in the robbery that led to the shooting of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe matches a car identified on CCTV footage by investigating gardai.

Andy Wooller of Acuity Forensics told the trial of Aaron Brady, who denies Det Gda Donohoe’s murder, that the vehicle seen on CCTV is either the suspect’s BMW or the same model and make with similar alloy wheels and a similar roof that reflects light differently to the rest of the car’s body.

Aaron Brady (28) from New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh has pleaded not guilty to ….read more

Lawyers have told a High Court judge that the State intends to run as one trial the cases of six women and five men accused of multiple offences relating to the alleged sexual abuse and neglect of children.

The 11 defendants, who range in age from 25 to 76, face over 200 charges.

The charges include sexual assault, sexual exploitation and child cruelty and neglect under Section 246 of the Children Act 2001.

The alleged victims are all juveniles and the offences are alleged to have happened at locations in Limerick on dates between 2014 and 2016.

The defendants, who have addresses in several ….read more

A UK video analyst viewed CCTV footage from the night Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe was shot dead in an attempt to identify vehicles gardai believe were involved in the shooting, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Matt Cass, of Acuity Forensics, told prosecution counsel Lorcan Staines SC that his company specialises in image analysis, vehicle identification and reconstruction of events that have been captured by CCTV.

Giving his evidence by video link from the UK, he said his role is to provide evidence “impartially, not to take sides or provide evidence for one side or the other.” At the beginning of ….read more

A member of a voluntary paramedic organisation who orally raped one teenage boy and sexually assaulted another after drugging them with a powerful pain relief substance will be sentenced on Wednesday.

In one attack the 29-year-old used an oxygen mask to force the 15 year old to inhale the drug before sexually assaulting him. In a second attack the accused orally raped the unconscious child while another man recorded it on his mobile phone.

The Kildare man, who cannot be named to protect the identify of the victims, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to oral rape of one boy at ….read more

A woman who was raped while she was asleep has said she “will be alone for the rest of my life”, a court has heard.

In her victim impact statement, which she read before the Central Criminal Court, the woman said that the past three or four years of her life have been “hell”.

“I blame myself for not being strong enough for my children,” the woman said. She said she had felt and still feels like she has failed as a mother “for being in such a dark place”.

The woman said she feels as though she has been robbed of everything ….read more

A garda witness in the trial of a man accused of murdering Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe has shown the jury a frame-by-frame breakdown of the moment he says a car belonging to the accused’s friend drove by the scene hours before the robbery and fatal shooting.

Det Garda Garreth Kenna told prosecution counsel, Lorcan Staines SC, that the passenger side front window of the car was open on CCTV footage as the car drove by Lordship Credit Union having been closed moments earlier when the car passed a nearby garage.

The witness has previously stated that the car belongs to a ….read more

A judge will hear evidence from a doctor as to whether a young man with a serious brain condition can be sentenced to prison, three years after he was convicted of a fatal stabbing as a teenager.

Ms Justice Eileen Creedon has asked that a treating doctor come to the Central Criminal Court to provide an assessment of the young man’s condition. The judge has previously stated that the victim’s grieving family need “finality” and that the offender should prepare for a custodial sentence.

The now 20-year-old offender, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was found not guilty of murder but ….read more