State urges court to uphold gang's conviction for kidnap and torture of Kevin Lunney

The Court of Appeal has heard closing arguments regarding whether to uphold the convictions of three men sentenced for the kidnapping and assault of Quinn Industrial Holdings director Kevin Lunney. The case, heard on 11 March 2025, centred on disputes over the admissibility of key forensic and digital evidence presented at the original trial. Sean Guerin SC, appearing for the Director of Public Prosecutions, contended that the conviction rested on a sound foundation of circumstantial evidence evaluated comprehensively, and urged the appellate court to preserve the verdicts. In response, defence counsel challenged this methodology, arguing that individual evidentiary errors within the trial judgment would not be remedied through such an aggregate assessment approach. Alan Harte, Alan O'Brien, and Darren Redmond, all from East Wall in Dublin, were convicted in December 2022 by the Special Criminal Court of false imprisonment and intentionally causing serious harm. The offences occurred at Drumbrade, Ballinagh, County Cavan, on 17 September 2019, following the abduction of Mr Lunney from his home in County Fermanagh. Harte received a 30-year custodial sentence, O'Brien 25 years, and Redmond 18 years with the final three years suspended. The appellants have mounted challenges to the admissibility of DNA evidence derived from a van that was destroyed while in garda custody, as well as to phone records and related digital material relied upon during trial. Defence representatives have also raised concerns about the procedures through which phone data was obtained and the treatment of other evidence at the hearing. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, presiding alongside two colleague judges, reserved his decision, with judgment to follow at a subsequent date. The three-day hearing, which commenced in December 2024, did not complete as originally scheduled and was adjourned to allow the court time to deliberate on the substantial legal matters raised by both parties.