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A jury presiding over the trial of Riad Bouchaker has begun to watch video of Garda interviews with the accused man.
Garda Sergeant Ben Geoghegan gave evidence of the arrest of Bouchaker on the 20th of December 2023 from the Mater Hospital, where he was taken from Parnell Square East on the 23rd of November 2023.
After his arrest, Bouchaker was taken to Mountjoy Garda Station by Detective Sergeant Padraig Cleary, who applied for him to be held in custody pursuant to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt explained the act to the jury, saying that, “Way back when, when I was starting off in all of this”, individuals were questioned on the basis of “helping Gardaí with their enquiries” before the introduction of the Section 4 “staturoty procedure”.
The jury heard that when Bouchaker was arrested, a number of weeks had passed since the incident on Parnell Square East, with prosecuting counsel Carl Finnegan saying that Sergeant Cleary would have gone through the evidence that had been gathered by that point “at length” when applying for the detention of the accused.
Sergeant Geoghegan said that a French-Arabic interpreter was available to Bouchaker “throughout” the time he was detained in Mountjoy station and that arrangements regarding food were made for him.
The video played to the jury was an interview with the accused, starting at 11:11 am on the 20th of December with Detective Garda Gary Moran and Detective Garda Kevin Bambrick.
Justice Hunt informed the jury that they were not required to take notes and that a memorandum of the interview would be made available to them.
In the video, after Gardaí had cautioned the accused and informed him of his rights, a French-Arabic interpreter said that Mr Bouchaker had responded, “Do not say anything, do not hear anything, do what they tell you to do.”
When one of the Garda interviewers informed the accused that this was not what they were saying to him, the interpreter came back with, “As long as they know my situation, sometimes I lose concentration, and the third bit, whatever you guys want to do, do it. “
The trial continues with the accused denying all charges.
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