INLA shot accused member in the back, court hears

A Strabane man accused of INLA membership was shot in the back by the INLA and is confined to a wheelchair as a result, the Special Criminal Court in Dublin heard today.

The court was told by defence counsel Mr Brendan Nix SC that Edward McGarrigle was shot in the back by the INLA 25 years ago.

McGarrigle (aged 43), Melmont Gardens, Strabane, Co Tyrone, as well as Neil Myles (aged 54), of no fixed abode, and John McCrossan (aged 47), Ballycoleman Estate, Strabane, Co Tyrone have pleaded not guilty to membership the INLA on February 22, 2008.

It is the prosecution’s case that the four men were involved in a plot to commit a crime at the home of a Cork businessman.

Detective Chief Superintendent Philip Kelly, of the Special Detective Unit, said that he believed that McGarrigle and McCrossan were members of the INLA on February 22, 2008. He said his belief was based on confidential information available to him.

Cross examined by Mr Nix , for McGarrigle, the Detective Chief Superintendent agreed that McGarrigle was the co-ordinator of Teach Failte, an ex-prisoners organisation.

The Det Supt said he knew that Judith Gillespie was the Assistant Chief Constable of the PSNI but said he was not aware that she worked with Mc Garrigle in Teach Failte.

Mr Nix put it to the Detective Chief Supt that a former British Army officer, members of the PSNI and a member of the Special Branch in Dundalk had worked alongside McGarrigle in the organisation.

Det Chief Supt Kelly said that he was not aware of members of the gardaí working with Teach Failte.

He said that while organisations like Teach Failte did do good work at rehabilitating people involved in the conflict in the North, he could only speak about McGarrigle’s activities outside Teach Failte.

He said he believed that McGarrigle was one of the main members of the INLA and that the INLA had become active again in the Republic of Ireland from 2006.

Assistant Commissioner Kevin Ludlow said he believed that Neil Myles was a member of the INLA on February 22, 2008. The Assistant Commissioner claimed privilege over the source of his confidential information.

The trial of the three men continues next Tuesday.