Man cannot see information behind warrant

A man whose Dublin premises was searched as part of a continuing Garda investigation into a serious fire attack on a plant of the former Quinn group is not entitled to see information supporting the Garda application for a search warrant, the High Court has ruled.

Mr Justice David Keane said disclosure of the document carried the risk, not just of compromising an ongoing criminal investigation, but also a potential risk to the life of an informant or informants “and, hence, cannot be lightly weighed”.

The information was sought by Francis McGuinness for a civil action against the Garda Commissioner and State over the search of his premises, a yard at Cloghran used to store haulage vehicles, on August 23, 2014. He is suing on grounds including alleged negligence, trespass, and breach of his constitutional rights.

Mr McGuinness claims the information was flawed and a citizen is entitled to see any information sworn by a garda concerning them and proffered in open court subject to such claims of confidentiality or security gardaí may choose to assert.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Keane, who had sought the information document for inspection, said he accepted arguments by the defendants the information is material to an ongoing criminal probe and, if it was disclosed, there was a risk it could lead to identification of a confidential informant or informants.

He ruled both public interest privilege and informant privilege applied to the material.

The judge said he had decided against ordering a redacted version of the document both for practical reasons and in light of a Supreme Court decision that, in general, documents material to an ongoing criminal investigation should not be required to be disclosed in civil proceedings.

Previously, the court heard the search arose after an incident in which a Jeep Cherokee vehicle was set on fire and driven into the lobby of the Quinn packaging plant at Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, on March 13, 2014.

More than 30 employees were present at the plant and some €600,000 damage was caused, a Garda detective inspector said in an affidavit.

The incident is among six incidents, dating from August 2011 to March 2014, being investigated involving criminal damage, costing an estimated €3m, to property owned by or connected to the Aventas group, formerly the Quinn group, of companies. The incidents include damage to the Co Meath residence of Aventas CEO Paul O’Brien caused when a vehicle was set alight in his driveway on August 8, 2011.

Similar attacks on properties connected with the Aventas or Quinn Group in Northern Ireland are subject to a joint investigation involving gardaí and the PSNI.