Kevin Lunney attackers broke his leg and scored chest with blade, court hears

• Published date: 02 June 2021
• Author: Eoin Reynolds

The attackers, the court also heard, were acting "on behalf of another or others".

The trial of the four men who deny falsely imprisoning and causing serious harm to Mr Lunney will hear CCTV, DNA, phone location data and other circumstantial evidence from about 250 witnesses, a barrister told the non-jury court on Wednesday.

Prosecution counsel Sean Guerin SC said the court will hear that one of the four accused was linked to the crime when Mr Lunney told gardaí that his attackers had broken off at one point to get bleach. Gardaí discovered that one of the accused had bought bleach from a nearby shop at around the relevant time. They then used mobile phone data to link him to a man who the prosecution has said was instructing Mr Lunney's attackers.

Mr Guerin said the case is a complex one but resolves itself into "a few relatively simple propositions."

He said the three-judge, non-jury court will hear evidence that blood with DNA matching Mr Lunney was found in a Renault Kangoo van that Mr Guerin said is linked to three of the accused men by CCTV and phone location data. He said the prosecution will show that the van travelled from Dublin to Cavan on the day of the assault and the previous day.

The fourth man, Luke O'Reilly, is connected to the assault and imprisonment because, counsel said, it occurred on his land and, when the attackers wanted bleach to "conceal their trail" they turned to Mr O'Reilly.

Luke O'Reilly (67), of Mullahoran Lower, Kilcogy, Co Cavan; Darren Redmond (27), from Caledon Road, East Wall, Dublin 3; Alan O'Brien (40), of Shelmalier Road, East Wall, Dublin 3 and a fourth accused man aged 40 on Wednesday all pleaded not guilty to false imprisonment and intentionally causing serious harm to Mr Lunney at Drumbrade, Ballinagh, Co Cavan on September 17th, 2019. The fourth man cannot be named by order of the court as he is due to face trial on other, unrelated matters.

Boot of car

Mr Guerin said Mr Lunney (51) was "bundled" into the boot of a car close to his home in Co Fermanagh on the evening of September 17th. He was driven to a trailer where his attackers told him to resign from QIH and threatened to kill him. They broke his leg with a blunt object and struck him about 20 times before one of his attackers used a Stanley blade to "score" his chest.

The trial is expected to take up to four months and, Mr Guerin said, the court is likely to be asked to rule on whether mobile phone data and CCTV footage compiled by gardai is admissible as...