Senator Michael McDowell has accused the Gardaí of entrapment in the case of Evan Fitzgerald, the 22-year-old who took his own life after opening fire in a Carlow shopping centre earlier this month.
Speaking in the Seanad this week, the Independent Senator described both the powers conferred to An Garda Síochána and Offences Against the State Act as “far-reaching,” raising questions about the case – elements of which he said are “shocking” and need investigation. Undercover gardaí supplied guns and ammunition to Mr Fitzgerald – who was subsequently charged with possession of the firearms. The 22-year-old man had then stolen another weapon from a neighbour while awaiting trial on firearms charges, and used it to fire shots in the shopping centre before turning the gun on himself.
Senator McDowell cautioned that the Seanad should be “very conscious” of the nature of the powers conferred to An Garda Síochána and the “seriousness of any abuse of those powers.” He was speaking on a debate on motions to the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009.
The case has been raised in both the Dáil and Seanad amid scrutiny of the Gardaí, with an Oireachtas Committee having been told that Mr Fitzgerald was awaiting trial for possession of illegal weapons that had been supplied to him in a Garda operation, when he took his own life. Mr Fitzgerald, from Kiltegan, Co Wicklow, was facing up to 14 years in prison on firearms and explosives charges.
Labour TD Alan Kelly and independent senator Michael McDowell have raised the case in the Dáil and Seanad respectively, raising questions about court reports which suggested that the gardaí had told the judge in the case that they were “investigating” how Mr Fitzgerald and others acquired the guns.
“The guns were actually given to him by An Garda Síochána … How could they say in court that they didn’t know where the guns came from?” Mr Kelly said this month.
“THIS WAS A CASE OF ENTRAPMENT”
In fresh scrutiny over the case, Senator Michael McDowell said: “I raised here last week the unfortunate death of Evan Fitzgerald, who took his own life in Carlow Shopping Centre, having been charged a year earlier with possession of firearms and having been remanded on bail by the District Court in Naas.
“I just want to put on the record that this was a case of entrapment. Apparently Mr. Fitzgerald sought firearms on the dark web, the protonmail aspect of the dark web. Apparently Interpol or some other international agency alerted the Garda to this inquiry.
“The response of the Garda was to arrange to meet Mr. Fitzgerald and to conclude a deal with him in which gardaí persuaded him to take an automatic rifle and a semi-automatic pistol for a price of €2,700. They then arranged to meet him for delivery of these firearms for a price of €2,700.
“Mr. Fitzgerald came with two childhood friends, with whom he often went camping in the woods and who had been his best friends all his life, and they took delivery of the firearms in the car of one of his friends. The car proceeded some distance away to another place, where it was intercepted members of An Garda Síochána, who smashed the windows, dragged out the occupants and made an arrest. The weapons in question had been disabled, were not capable of discharge and were taken from the Garda’s own reservoir of seized firearms.”
Senator McDowell said that when the matter came before the District Court, the Garda initially opposed bail.
He continued: “When eventually bail on certain conditions was granted, the District Court judge, Desmond Zaidan, who had been told on sworn evidence that the allegation was that these individuals purchased these firearms on the dark net but that these individuals were not involved in organised crime – those words were spoken to him – very naturally later asked, “When you say the dark web, do you have any idea who was selling them on the dark web?”
“A member of An Garda Síochána, in sworn evidence, told him, “That is an ongoing investigation. At this stage I wouldn’t want to”, and the judge said, “Compromise the trial”, and he said, “That is an ongoing investigation on the dark web.”
“A SHOCKING THING”
“I just want you to think about that, that a judge was considering whether bail should be given to these accused, three young men who he said appeared to him to be young and naive, and the gardaí had informed the court that they had wanted the weapons to shoot them in the woods, but the gardaí wanted to deprive them of bail, which meant being imprisoned pending trial, due to what they said was the seriousness of the charge.
“It is a shocking thing, I have to say, that untrue and misleading evidence would be given to a judge of the Irish District Court in these circumstances, leaving him in the dark that these were decommissioned weapons supplied in a controlled delivery by members of An Garda Síochána in a setup of one naive man and his two childhood friends. I believe that is a shocking thing which needs investigation.”
Last night, the Offences Against the State Act was renewed, but it was ultimately not put to a vote. The debate on the emergency measures that are renewed by the Oireachtas annually took place on Tuesday. Some politicians have argued that the emergency legislation, which dates back 90 years, should not be used on an ongoing basis.
Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan has signalled support for calls for the introduction of a modern legal framework to address organised crime and to protect jurors. The Minister said he has accepted in principle the recommendations from an independent review group. The review called for the repeal of the act along with the establishment of a non-jury court on a standing basis.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has, however, warned that plans to replace the Special Criminal Court with a new permanent non-jury court may require a referendum.
Senator Michael McDowell indicated that in general, he supported two motions on the Act. However, he said far-reaching powers included detention and the routing of cases investigated under it to the Special Criminal Court unless there is an intervention to send them to the ordinary courts.
“I think, however, we should be very conscious in this House of the nature of the powers we are conferring on An Garda Síochána and the seriousness of any abuse of those powers,” he said.
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