Jury sent home for day in £3m money-laundering trial

THE jury in the trial of a Cork father and son accused of laundering more than £3m from the Northern Bank robbery of December 2004 was told the case could not proceed yesterday.

Judge Cornelius Murphy asked the jury to return to Cork Circuit Criminal Court today at 10.30am for the resumption of the case.

The five women and seven men of the jury made a brief appearance in Courtroom 2 at noon yesterday only to be sent away. Judge Murphy said: “Certain events have arisen which means we cannot proceed with your part of the trial. Again, do not discuss the case with anyone other than among yourselves.”

Timothy (Ted) Cunningham, 60, of Woodbine Lodge, Farran, Co Cork, is on trial on 20 charges of money laundering arising out of the robbery of £26.5m from the Northern Bank in Belfast on December 20, 2004. His son, Timothy John Cunningham, 33, of Church View, Farran, Co Cork, faces four similar charges. Both men denied all counts against them.

A jury was sworn in to hear the case on January 14. The trial commenced last Tuesday, January 20.

When the case went into its second week on Monday, Inspector Declan O’Sullivan gave evidence of a search team arriving at the home of Ted Cunningham shortly before midnight on February 16, 2005, and that later with the assistance of the accused a cupboard in the basement was cracked open.

The inspector testified: “I could see five or six holdall bags of various colours. I could see they were bulging with Northern sterling.

“There was a moment of shocked silence from everyone in the room, we were all kind of looking at each other. Mr Cunningham said, ‘That money is not from the Northern Bank robbery.’ I asked him why would we think that.

“Mr Cunningham said, ‘As soon as I saw it on the telly I knew I had the money down there in the basement’. I cautioned him he did not have to say anything more after that.”