Gardaí to address murder trial in absence of public

The Special Criminal Court has directed that the public be excluded from court while gardaí from the National Surveillance Unit give evidence in the trial of three men charged with murdering dissident republican Peter Butterly.

The Director of Public Prosecutions had applied to let 11 gardaí from the NSU to give evidence anonymously, withholding their names and addresses from the defence, and referring to them only as Garda A, Garda B, Garda C, and so on.

The DPP also applied to erect a screen between surveillance officers and the public in order to protect their identities. The move was made to protect the officers’ safety and that of their families, as well as future surveillance operations, a senior garda claimed.