IRA trial shown CCTV arrest footage

CCTV footage of the arrest outside Heuston Station in Dublin by Special Branch detectives of a Cork chef accused of IRA membership was today played to the Special Criminal Court.

It was the third day of the trial of Don Bullman (aged 32), a chef and father of two, of Fernwood Crescent, Leghanamore, Wilton, Cork, who has denied membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Óglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the IRA, on February 16, 2005.

The court has been told that Bullman was arrested outside Heuston Station in Dublin during Garda investigations into an exchange of IRA funds, including the proceeds of the £26m (€39.5m) Northern Bank robbery in Belfast in 2004.

A washing powder box containing €94,250 in cash was found in his rucksack and during a follow-up search at his home in Cork gardaí found an investment bond in his name for €50,000 and a sweet tin containing £870 (€1,300).

The court heard that Bullman denied during seven interviews with gardaí that he knew about the money in the washing powder box and also denied membership of the IRA.

The footage showed the accused man getting into the back of a black SUV parked outside Heuston Station.

A short time later, two detectives drove up beside the vehicle and talked to the occupants before another unmarked Garda car arrived on the scene. The detectives were then shown arresting the three men, including the accused, Bullman.

The trial is continuing.