'Arthur Daly' type car dealer jailed for supplying car used by dissidents in PSNI murder attempt
Robert O'Leary told detectives in his interviews that they were "barking up the wrong tree" and "never in a million years" would he source a car for use in an IRA operation. File picture: iStock
An "Arthur Daly" type used-car dealer who supplied a vehicle for a dissident operation to place a bomb under a PSNI officer's jeep in Belfast has been sentenced to three years' imprisonment at the non-jury Special Criminal Court today.
Robert O'Leary, who denied the charge and said "never in a million years" would he be involved with the IRA, wrote a letter to the court the day before his sentencing giving an undertaking "that upon release, [he would] not associate with persons or a person engaging in militant or violent Republicanism". He also undertook not to come to the attention of gardaí.
Mr O'Leary (aged 42) of Clancy Road, Finglas, Dublin 11, had pleaded not guilty to a single count of membership of an unlawful organisation, contrary to Section 21 of the Offences against the State Act 1939, as amended by section 48 of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005.
Mr O'Leary was found guilty by the non-jury court of being a member of a group styling itself as the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Óglaigh na hÉireann, at a location within the State on August 20, 2019.
Mr Mark Lynam BL, defending, said the contents of the letter were "completely unambiguous", were a "major factor for his [O'Leary's] situation" and were accepted by senior gardaí in the case, which was acknowledged by the prosecution.
Mr Justice Hunt, presiding, said he would consider the undertaking in the letter after reading out the sentence that was originally constructed before the court received it and then give it due consideration for adjusting the sentence.
Delivering judgment last month, Mr Justice Hunt said that a Skoda Octavia car had been used to survey the area around the PSNI officer's home in Belfast and stopped nearby for three minutes while the device was planted under his car.
The judge said the accused man had invented a purchaser for the Skoda car - a mysterious man - to break the link between him and the Octavia. The defendant had bought, moved on and repaired the car in a "purposeful way" and to suggest that this was some kind of "spontaneous long-shot" was not borne out by the CCTV in the case, he added.
O'Leary, who described himself as a "bit of an Arthur Daly" [the lead character from the 1980s UK TV series 'Minder'] told detectives in his interviews that they were "barking up the wrong tree" and "never in a million years" would he source a car for use in an IRA operation.
In his opening address to the three-judge court last July, prosecution counsel Mr Paul Greene SC said the charge related to the discovery of an "under-vehicle improvised explosive device" located beneath the car of a serving PSNI officer at Shandon Park Golf Club in east Belfast on June 1, 2019.
After the bomb was discovered, the New IRA claimed responsibility by issuing a statement through a journalist that read: "The IRA claims responsibility for the recent under-car booby-trap. We are confident that the device would have exploded if not for the terrain it travelled over. We were unlucky this time but we only need to be lucky once."
Mr Greene said the PSNI had investigated the movements of the officer's car, a Cherokee jeep, around Belfast on the days previous to the discovery and contacted gardaí about the burning out of two cars nearby on June 1. One of the two cars was a 2001 southern-registered Skoda Octavia.
At today's sentencing, Mr Justice Hunt said that it was "only good fortune" that the PSNI officer was not killed or seriously injured.
Mr Justice Hunt said that the maximum sentence for membership of a proscribed organisation was eight years but that he was satisfied that the offence fell within the mid-range of the scale and identified a headline sentence of four-and-a-half years before mitigation.
The judge said:
"Evidence in this case consisted of the acquisition of a car by Mr O'Leary approximately one week before this car played a pivotal role in planting, by the IRA in Belfast, an explosive device designed to kill or seriously injure a PSNI officer.
"We were satisfied that Mr O'Leary sourced and purchased this car and disposed of it using dubious personal details, thereby breaking the obvious link between this car and the IRA operation," said Mr Justice Hunt.
Mr Justice Hunt said that there was no specific evidence during the trail that O'Leary knew the exact purpose of the car, or that he played any active part other than its acquisition.
The judge added that O'Leary had no incriminating paraphernalia on him, did not move with higher members of the IRA and that there was no evidence of firearms in the case.
However, Mr Justice Hunt said that it was "solely good fortune that no actual harm occurred" and said that the car was associated with a "very grave crime indeed".
Mr Justice Hunt said that the sentence would have an onerous effect on Mr O'Leary's partner, who would now have to look after two children and nine employees.
The judge also took into account that O'Leary had no previous relevant convictions, was of previous good character and that there were testimonial letters from family, employment, sporting and charitable circles.
Mr Justice Hunt read out the original sentence to be three years and six months' imprisonment but then suspended the final six months for two years after taking into account O'Leary's letter to the court.
The final sentence of three years' imprisonment was then backdated to September 29, 2020, when O'Leary was found guilty.
At a previous hearing, Mr Greene read from the statement of the PSNI officer, known as Officer One, who said that he would usually check underneath his Cherokee jeep but that because of builders at a neighbouring property he could not do it discreetly in the two mornings before the discovery.
Officer One said he drove to the golf course at 7.40am on June 1, played golf and had a coffee. When returning to his car he said he saw the car next to his reverse, clearing his view of his own vehicle, which allowed him to see the device underneath his car.
"With a clear view of the car, I saw what looked like a brown shoe-box under my jeep, in the shadow of the car and it appeared to be attached. It looked like a child's woodwork project. It looked crude, basic and I wondered if it was a wind-up," said Officer One.
Officer One realised it was a device and said he did not want to ring the PSNI for fear of setting it off by using his mobile. The PSNI were instead contacted via a landline at the pro-shop.
A PSNI ordnance officer arrived at the scene and discovered 65 grams of TNT attached to an aluminium detonator inside a wooden box under the jeep. The device was made safe after a partial explosion occurred.
O'Leary had told gardaí in his interviews in August 2019 that they were "barking up the wrong tree" and "never in a million years" would he source a car for use in an IRA operation. He also told detectives that he did not believe in hurting people saying: "It's not what I do".
He said that he had bought the Skoda Octavia for €750 and had it for two or three days before he sold it. He explained that there were a lot of people around his area who wanted to buy cheap cars and they did not have the money to buy "upper end cars".
"I like to flip cars for as little as €200," he said, adding that his main business was panel beating and paint spraying.
He told gardaí to believe what they wanted saying: "You're never so entirely wrong in your fucking career, there is no way I'd take part in that shit."
He denied he was a member of the IRA saying:
Mr Justice Hunt said that CCTV footage allowed the court to be sure that the silver car doing a loop around the police officer's residence was the Skoda Octavia vehicle.
The judge said the court fully accepted that there may be a degree of informality concerning how transactions are conducted in the second-hand car market but whilst it is true in some cases, it is not true in every case. "Car dealers will keep receipts to protect themselves in relation to any vehicle disputes and persons who take a lax attitude must expect scrutiny. Mr O'Leary seems to accept that he was such a person who dealt with second-hand cars in a lax way," he added.
Mr Justice Hunt said the accused man had provided an "implausible and false narrative" to gardaí and he had not acquired the Skoda Octavia on a "speculative or impulsive basis" but did so for a specific purpose and lost no time to repair the car.
"The apparent urgency of Mr O'Leary's conduct is consistent with a plan on his part for the car and the details of the transaction are incredibly vague," he said, adding that one might have expected some recollection of haggling about the price and his account made no sense at all.
The judge said that the court was satisfied that a purchaser for the Octavia did not exist and this person was invented by the accused in order to "break the link between him and the car." The judge said there was a deliberate concoction by O'Leary to put distance between him and the Octavia car used in Belfast.
The accused man had bought, moved on and repaired the car in a "purposeful way" and to suggest that this was some kind of "spontaneous long-shot" was not borne out by the CCTV in the case. There was no truth in some man appearing in his yard and buying the Octavia from him, he said.
In summary, Mr Justice Hunt said that the three-judge court had received both belief evidence as well as a "close temporal connection" between the accused and the car, which was used in serious IRA activity.
"The Octavia was in the hands of the IRA by the night of May 31, 2019 and played a very serious role in crime," explained the judge, adding that the prosecution had established the unbroken link between O'Leary and the car. The non-jury court convicted O'Leary on the single count of IRA membership.
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