Garda raps judge for remarks on trial security

LIMERICK’S top garda yesterday criticised a High Court judge for claiming garda security contributed to the failure to empanel a jury in the Kieran Keane murder trial.

Chief Superintendent Gerry Kelly said he could not understand why Mr Justice Paul Carney claimed garda security was one of the reasons for the trial being transferred to Dublin.

"The judge himself looked for and got special protection it is surprising to find that he now believes that the gardaí contributed to the failure to empanel a jury," said Chief Supt Kelly.

Mr Justice Carney, who presided over the Kieran Keane murder trial, said that the County Registrar had conveyed his concern to the gardaí that security should be as low-key as possible to avoid anxiety to the jury panels.

"I am advised by the County Registrar that the area around the courthouse was cordoned off. A garda boat and water unit were on, in, and under the river; a garda helicopter was in the air; sniffer dogs were on the ground and snipers were on the roof; and the jury panel were searched with metal detectors," said Mr Justice Carney.

But there was a significant increase in the number of medical certificates presented by potential jurors and, for women, they mainly stated "stress and anxiety" as the cause of unfitness to serve, said Mr Justice Carney.

"It is ironic that a practice such as the placing of snipers on the roof of the Old Bailey and other court buildings in England, which has been criticised from time to time in relation to the trial of Irishmen as being over the top, should have the effect in this jurisdiction of intimidating jurors against turning up," he said.

The High Court judge made his controversial remarks in a speech he was forced to withdraw from a legal symposium over the weekend. Mr Justice Carney pulled out of the conference because Chief Justice Mr Ronan Keane objected to some of its contents.

His document, The Central Criminal Court: the Limerick Experience, was also critical of the "hysterical" media coverage of the failure to empanel a jury in Limerick.

But Chief Supt Kelly said that many jurors were trying to opt out of this murder trial long before it started. "Many of them had produced medical certificates and contacted their TDs to lobby for exemption from jury duty," he said.

The gardaí knew there was going to be trouble in the trial because it hinged on the evidence of one witness who was under 24-hour protection.

"We were dealing with a very volatile situation; the courthouse itself had been petrol-bombed beforehand, a car bomb had also been found in the lead-up to the trial and people were going in with bullet-proof jackets," said Chief Supt Kelly.

Gardaí say the Keane murder trial should never have gone to Limerick as it was particularly volatile and there was a very tight catchment area for jurors.

This case was also given high security when it was transferred to Cloverhill courthouse in Dublin, where the five men were convicted of the murder of Kieran Keane. But seven other murder trials have been heard in Limerick without any extra security.

Mr Justice Carney could not be contacted for a comment on the criticisms.