Garda home ransacked, INLA trial hears

A young garda discovered his home had been ransacked, “covered in a blue powdery substance” and that the toilet was “stuffed” with torn garda notebooks, the Special Criminal Court has heard today.

Garda Emmett Dunphy described how, on December 10, 2007, he returned to the Waterford home he shared with his partner, Garda Lisa Farrell, only to find it in disarray with a large black gearbag, containing their work uniforms, missing.

Garda Dunphy was giving evidence in the trial of a Louth man accused of INLA membership. Anthony Lee (aged 33) of Carnbeg, Doylesfort Road, Dundalk denies the charge.

Garda Dunphy said all the rooms had been “ransacked” with the bottom part of the house covered in a blue powdery substance that he later discovered came from a fire extinguisher kept under the sink in the kitchen.

In the bathroom he discovered the toilet “had been stuffed” with ripped-up garda notebooks. Photographs of himself and his partner had been removed from their frames and torn, and wrapped Christmas presents were found “thrown around the place”.

Garda Dunphy said he believed a hedge clippers from his garden shed had been used to gain entry to the house.

The court has already heard how a black hold-all bag, containing Garda uniforms and two bullet-proof vests, was found in the boot of a car in which the accused, Mr Lee, was travelling at the time of his arrest on December 20th, 2007.

Garda Dunphy today confirmed to the court that a number of these items belonged to him, including a garda hat, garda belts and several pairs of garda trousers.

He said he was able to identify them as his, by using the dry cleaning tags that were still attached, and by the various alterations which had been made to them.

His partner, Garda Lisa Farrell, also identified a number of items.

Garda Farrell was shown a garda tunic, which had been recovered by gardaí, and told the court it was the one she had worn to her graduation.

She said it bore her district division numbers and it contained a prayer and a button she had placed in the pocket. Garda Farrell also identified several shirts, a pair of Garda trousers and a garda hat as hers.

She was also shown a black hold-all bag which she confirmed belonged to her and her partner.

The court has also heard evidence from Commandant George O’Connor, of the Defence Forces. He was shown a green army flak jacket and a steel plate which gardaí had seized during a search of the accused’s home.

Commandant O’Connor said the vest was “standard soft armour”, potentially capable of protecting against handgun or sub-machine gun ammunition. He said greater protection could be gained by inserting a metal plate into the jacket’s front pouch but added that the steel plate recovered by gardaí would not be suitable for such a purpose.

Under cross-examination from defence counsel Jeri Ward BL, Commandant O’Connor said he was not aware that equipment, such as army flak jackets, went missing on a regular basis and that high security often surrounds the storage of such armour.

The trial is continuing.