Special Criminal Court asks to hear anti-terror evidence in NI

The non-jury Special Criminal Court in Dublin has asked for permission to hear evidence in Northern Ireland in the trial of a Belfast man accused of shooting dead a man in the city last year.

The trial under rarely used anti-terrorist laws opened today, of Belfast man Gerard Mackin who has denied the murder of taxi driver Mr Edward Burns, a 36-year-old father of five, at Bog Meadow, Falls Road, Belfast on March 12, 2007.

The court has requested the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland to allow it to travel to the North to observe the taking of evidence there of the main prosecution witness, Mr Damien O' Neill, who was himself shot twice and survived in the incident. The trial has been adjourned pending the decision of the northern courts.

The court heard that Mr O' Neill, who initially made a statement to the PSNI in which he identified Mackin as Mr Burn's killer, has since retracted his statement and has informed the gardaí and the PSNI that he will not give evidence in the trial.

Mackin (aged 26), a native of the Whiterock area of west Belfast, with an address at Raheen Close, Tallaght, Dublin, has opted for trial in the Republic under the Criminal Law Jurisdiction Act of 1976 which allows suspects to be tried in the Republic for alleged offences in the UK or Northern Ireland.

Opening the prosecution case, Mr Tom O' Connell SC said that Mackin, Mr O' Neill and Mr Burns were associates. He said that Mr O'Neill was contacted by Gerard Mackin on March 11 and they went for drink along with Mr Burns and another man.

They went to a pub on the Glen Road and later O' Neill and Mackin went to another pub where they were joined by another man.

Mr O' Connell said the court would hear evidence from Mr Burns girlfriend Ms Roisin Toal that she was with him when his phone started ringing continuously at 2.15 am.

Mr Burns reluctantly answered it and then left the house driving a silver Skoda taxi. He drove to the entrance to the Springhill housing estate and when he arrived Mackin produced a revolver and told him he was being hijacked.

Burns was put in the rear of the taxi along with Mr O' Neill and another man and the taxi was driven to the Bog Meadow, a car park and waste ground off the Falls Road.

Mr O' Connell said that Burns was then taken out of the taxi: "he was lying on the ground and Mackin shot him in the head".

When he was shot he had his hands covering his head and when his body was examined a bullet wound was found in his left hand as well as his head, but the State Pathologist believed that only one shot was fired.

When Mackin got back into the taxi , Mr O'Neill snatched the gun from him and ran away.

Mackin chased him and caught him and during a struggle he regained the gun and shot Mr O’ Neill twice, once in the left arm and once in the neck.

Mackin then left and O’ Neill managed to make it to the Falls Road where he got a taxi to the Royal Victoria Hospital.

The silver Skoda taxi was observed on fire in the Ligoneil area a short time later and it was then seen being loaded on to a lorry at 9 am. Neither the taxi or the lorry have ever been recovered.

Mr O’ Connell said that Mr O’ Neill’s evidence is "absolutely central to the State’s case".

He applied to the court to request from the courts in Northern Ireland permission to have evidence heard there and to observe that evidence.

Mr Justice Paul Butler, presiding at the three-judge court, said that it is in the interest of the administration of justice that the trial should proceed in circumstances where a witness made a ststement indicating that the accused committed the murder.

The judge said that while the witness cannot be compelled to attend court in Dublin he can be compelled in Northern Ireland and the court would make the request to observe the taking of the evidence in the North.

Mr O’ Connell said that he would not be calling any other evidence until the court has heard the evidence of Mr O’Neill and the trial has been adjourned pending the decision of the Northern Ireland courts.