Court entitled to draw inferences from Louth explosives accused

The Special Criminal Court has ruled that it is entitled to draw inferences from the failure of a Louth man accused of possessing explosive substances to answer material questions put to him in interview with Gardaí.

Conan Murphy (aged 25), with an address at Plaster, Mount Pleasant, Dundalk, Co Louth, has pleaded not guilty to the possession of explosive substances at Aghaboys, Mount Pleasant on May 22, 2010.

His co-accused Philip McKevitt (aged 58) of Aghaboys, Mount Pleasant, has also pleaded not guilty to the same offence at his home on the same date.

The trial spent most of the day in legal argument after the defence challenged whether the court could draw certain inferences from answers given by Conan Murphy in one of four interviews conducted with detectives at Drogheda garda station.

Counsel for the accused, Ms Deirdre Murphy SC, said Mr Murphy was acting on the advice of his solicitors not to answer questions put to him in an interview conducted on May 25, 2010.

Presiding judge Mr Paul Butler said the court found that Mr Murphy had been obliged to answer certain questions put to him in interview but had failed to do so.

He said that although the court found it was entitled to draw inferences from Mr Murphy’s failure to answer certain questions put to him, whether it did or not was dependent on what other evidence there was against him.

Mr Justice Butler said the court had not considered the other evidence against Mr Murphy and would not do so until the close of the prosecution case.

The State contends that gardaí who raided Philip McKevitt’s home discovered in an outbuilding an “adaptive” advertising trailer constructed for the purposes of concealing two gas containers which in turn had been modified to cause an explosion.

The court heard evidence that gardaí had placed the address under surveillance as part of an operation focusing on the suspected movement and manufacture of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices by members of the IRA.

Mr Murphy told gardaí that he occasionally called to Philip “Barney” McKevitt’s house to have a cup of tea and give him a hand around the house.

He said that on the night of his arrest he had called to Aghaboys, had a cup of tea with Mr McKevitt and was outside in a shed getting firewood for his pot-belly stove when gardai raided the premises.

The trial continues.