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Updated 12.22
BRIAN MEEHAN, THE man convicted of the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, has had his application to have his conviction declared a miscarriage of justice rejected.
The Court of Criminal Appeal rejected Meehan’s application at a hearing this morning at the Criminal Courts of Justice.
In rejecting the application, the three-judge court said that the arguments made by Meehan ‘amount to an abuse of process’.
A previous appeal by Meehan against his conviction was also rejected.
Guerin was shot dead in her car while she was waiting at traffic lights on the Naas Road in June 1996.
A 1999 trial at the Special Criminal Court found that Meehan drove the motorbike that pulled up beside Guerin’s car before a passenger on the bike fired six shots into the car.
Meehan was jailed for life for his part in the murder.
This fresh application focused on the evidence of a woman who corroborated evidence from a man who was subsequently entered into the witness protection programme.
Meehan’s legal team says that new facts came to light during drug smuggler John Gilligan’s trial for the murder of Guerin in which he was acquitted.
Testimony by Meehan’s accomplice, Russell Warren, was central in Meehan’s original trial.
He gave evidence against Meehan and was entered into the witness protection programme. He testified he was in “constant contact” with Meehan on the day of the murder on the phone.
Another witness, Marion Finnegan, gave evidence in Meehan’s trial that she had seen a man in a green jacket outside the Naas Courthouse on the day of the murder speaking on a mobile phone.
The prosecution in the case stated that this placed Warren at the courthouse and corroborated his evidence given in the trial.
During the Gilligan trial it was stated that Warren took part in an identification parade and Finnegan could not identify him in a line-up.
Meehan’s legal team argued in the Court of Criminal Appeal last year that this represented “critical evidence” which determined that there were two “radically different judgements” in the two trials.
The court today emphatically rejected this contention adding that he also chose not to rely on it during his earlier appeal.
“It is abundantly clear that all of the material on which Mr. Meehan is seeking to rely was available, at the latest, from the time of the Gilligan trial in 2001 and the arguments which he now presents to this Court has been formulated in detail by 2003,” said Justice George Birmingham.
The judge the made it clear that the court was critical of the appeal itself:
To formulate grounds and arguments, not proceed with them and then seek to resurrect the same grounds and arguments four and a half years on as new facts or newly discovered facts is quite unacceptable and indeed, in the view of the Court, amounts to an abuse of process.
Reacting to the court’s decision today, Veronica Guerin’s brother Jimmy said it was a ‘great result’.
“I think that that’s the end of it now, we’ll have no more cases. It’s great result for the guards and a great result for us,” he said.
Asked about Meehan, Guerin says he’s happy that he will be returning to prison tonight.
“I don’t think I’ll be laying eyes on him again and he’s gone back now to where he should be and I’m happy with that,” he said
Guerin wouldn’t speculate about Meehan’s possible future release.
“I think that’s a matter for the system but I think that he will serve a life sentence and I hope that’s what happens.”
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The real miscarriage of justice is wasting taxpayers money on these s(umbags to line the pockets of lawyers instead of it going to help fix our chronic hospital problems.
He killed no one and is in jail all this time free the man
Do you think he stopped to ask veronica for directions ? Lots of guilty people involved in that crime,not just the guy that pulled the trigger…
What have the hospitals got to do with it? Should we pause the justice system until we fix the hospitals? In that case I suppose we should stop filling in potholes until it’s sorted too. And we should stop rubbish collection until homelessness is fixed.
You’re argument makes no sense. Potholes and rubbish collection does not cost the same as extortionate lawyers fees for pushing around paper.
Bit of luck he will die in jail. Skum.
He is in there nearly 19 years his time is severed …
No its not. Try and keep up.
What these guys are trying to say its public money wasted when that money wasted should be spent on more urgent matters ect Hospitals Schools and so on.
Eddie. “Life in Prison” has no release date. Parole is granted “only” if the Prisoner is deemed to be “No longer a threat or danger to society”. He has had 2 appeals, both upheld the original verdict of Guilty. Maybe in his seventies the Parole Board may consider him to no longer be a threat or danger. But until that happens he will remain in Prison.
17 years
Eddie the troll back again – contradicting everyone to get a reaction – so edgy.
Ok Eddie.
But meanwhile back in reality: excellent! The coward’s appeal was rejected. Do the crime, serve the time, pal.
Hope the lowlife rots in prison.
In my opinion he pulled the trigger as much as the actual gunman. No less blood on his hands than the shooters
His appeal has been rejected anyway. If he got life in prison he’s surely due for release soon anyway.
Can you imagine the uproar in the media if that were to happen? I’d say he will end up serving one of the longest prison sentences in Irish history!
But why is the gunman in witness protection?
There is a story here that is yet to be told..
The fella in witness protection was the one outside the courthouse on the day of the murder acting as a lookout and relaying info back to Meehan. The gunman died a few years ago.
I wonder will we ever find out who murdered Father Niall Molloy…
unlikely at this stage, but when we do it will become clear who was involved in Veronica Guerins murder…
Just spent the last hour reading about Father Molloy. We really do live in a country full of crooks.
Handy mornings work for a few members of the legal profession there.
I wonder how much we paid for this…..
Money well spent keeping the streets clean
The legal eagles probably fell over making a beeline for the phone when this toerag called.
” the three-judge court said that the arguments made by Meehan ‘amount to an abuse of process’.”
I’m glad that this was spotted before it got into court so as not to waste everyones time and run up a massive legal bill so.
Oh, wait.
Great news .. you shouldn’t be allowed these continuous appeals it’s a joke.
Great news!!!
De Lira
I blame Denis o Brien.
Excellent news now this character should be forced to pay any court expenses, a waste of court time!
You realise that what your proposing would likely entail the legal profession profiting from the proceeds of crime?
How do convicted criminals usually pay their legal team, Neal?
Surely phone records (a) could also show when he wasn’t on the phone and (b) by triangulation to the supposed phone, it too could show its actual location at the time of the shooting?
Both points could assist in clarifying things more exact?
I’m not sure that the Gardai had the resources back then to do this and the phone companies weren’t required to hold data then either.
Because the first mobile phone license was issued by a corrupt Government minister who enjoys huge electoral support in his constituency to this day we would not have been able to access such data as the tender which won illegally did not include putting into place sufficient infrastructure for sophisticated legal surveillance. Maybe the general made a copy of those stolen dpp files which would rock the country but plenty would still do everything necessary to make sure that does not arise.
And it is rambling rubbish like your post Miss Eire on a ridiculously unrelated topic that helps get a certain ex minister elected!
@ John
What you say could indeed be the case.
If so, a pity.
The Lady diseased and her family, deserves to see full justice melted out to those responsible.
I sadly suspect it won’t happen, but for them, I shall always live in hope.
Touched a nerve there pj’s. Sounds like you did well out of it anyway…
Rot in jail.
Under ECHR Meehan must serve out a minimum term known as the”punishment term” before he can apply for parole. I’m not sure Meehan was given such a sentence except the Irish statutory disposal of “life”
If taken literally the Mr Guerin is right to be happy as Meehsn won’t be released anytime soon
have your say