Arrested men beaten

Thursday August 07, 2003 00:54

by Ailín - Republican

AS SAOIRSE went to press eight men were charged in the Dublin Special non-jury Court with IRA membership.

The circumstances of their arrest on Sunday, August 3 in County Waterford are just coming to light. SAOIRSE has learned that two of the nine men, including the man who was released after 48 hours, were seriously assaulted by the 26-County police at the time of their arrest. In fact John Devane, solicitor, requested that medical attention be given to the two men he visited in lacerations and bruising.

Both men are from Limerick and were held in custody in a 26-County police barracks for 48 hours. John O'Halloran (34) was visited by relatives and his solicitor on August 4 and they noticed he had six bruises and cuts on his face. He called a doctor to the night and was prescribed painkillers.

The right arm of the other man, Dean Coleman (20), was completely black from a severe kicking he received from the 26-County police Š all armed and wearing balaclavas and plainclothes at the time of his arrest. His mother was not allowed in to visit him but his injuries were noted by his solicitor.

The fact that charges were dropped against Dean Coleman on August 5 begs the question: was this done so that his injuries would not be displayed in the Special Court in front of the media, relatives and friends? However, it may be noted that the solicitor insisted that a formal complaint be taken by the police.

Six of the eight men were charged with IRA membership in the Special Court on August 5. They were: Paddy Deery, Joe Mooney, Brian Galvin, all from Waterford; John O'Halloran, Limerick; Patrick J Kelly, Mark McMahon, Wexford. Two others, Michael Leahy and Tom Barry, both from Waterford, were charged with possession of firearms. Tom Barry was charged with possession of his own firearm, a double-barrelled shotgun, for which he has a valid certificate.

John Devane, solicitor for Patrick J Kelly, in cross examination, failed to elicit an answer from a police witness as to why if the others were arrested at 3.45pm his client was not arrested until 4pm. John demanded an answer to the missing quarter of an hour and was informed on the courts direction that his client was free to do whatever he wanted for a quarter of an hour. When the detective giving evidence was asked further questions in relation to the timing of the arrest the court interjected and indicated that these questions should be answered during the trial.

The same quarter of an hour time-lapse pretains in the case of other defendants before the court. Bail applications for all eight accused was fixed for Friday, August 8 at 11am. The solicitor representing Tom Barry, who suffers from epilepsy, asked that his client get immediate medical examination for his complaint because his medicine was not administered at the normal times during his detention. Also on August 3 and 4 there were lengthy raids on homes in Waterford by the 26-County police.

The home of Des Long, Republican Sinn Féin Vice-President, was also raided in Limerick even though there was no connection between Des Long and this particular investigation.