Roscommon eviction trial: Jury continue deliberations for a third day

By Declan Brennan

A jury in the trial of four men accused of taking part in a vigilante group attack on men guarding a repossessed farmhouse will continue deliberating for a third day today.

At around 5am on December 16, 2018, a group of approximately 30 armed men smashed their way into a house at a recently repossessed rural property at Falsk, just outside Strokestown, Co Roscommon.

They were armed with weapons, including a baseball bat, a meat cleaver, a hurley, a stick with nails in it and a chain saw and attacked the men who were present guarding the property.

Patrick J Sweeney (44) of High Cairn, Ramelton, Co Donegal; Martin O’Toole (58) of Stripe, Irishtown, Claremorris, Co Mayo; Paul Beirne (56) of Croghan, Boyle, Co Roscommon and David Lawlor (43) of Bailis Downs, Navan, Co Meath have pleaded not guilty to 17 charges each at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Each defendant is charged with false imprisonment and assault causing harm to four security personnel, aggravated burglary, arson of four vehicles which were set alight, criminal damage to the front door of the house, violent disorder, robbery of a wristwatch from one security guard and finally, causing unnecessary suffering to an animal by causing or permitting an animal to be struck on the head.

At around four o’clock Judge Martina Baxter told jurors to suspend their deliberations until this morning.

The jury has now deliberated for a total of just under eight hours.

Deliberations began on Thursday afternoon and continued on Friday afternoon.

Before going home on Friday the jury foreman indicated to Judge Baxter that the jury wished to examine two exhibits; a pick-axe handle and a grey hat.

Yesterday morning these exhibits were given to the jury.

The prosecution evidence is that a garda from Ramelton identified Mr Sweeney from still images and video footage allegedly recorded on a body camera worn by one of the security men during the attack.

It’s the State’s case that he is the man on the footage wearing a hunter’s hat and wielding a chain saw in one hand and a pick-axe handle in the other.

Mr Sweeney’s defence say that the identification was unfairly carried out and was contaminated by suggestion.

Patrick McGrath SC, defending, also said that the hat in the footage could not be the same hat found in Mr Sweeney’s home as it was a different colour and had a different peak.

On Friday the jury had asked the judge to direct it again in the principle of common design.

Judge Baxter said that this is a legal principle which holds that if two or more people enter into a plan to commit a crime, each person is responsible for the actions of all the others in pursuit of that common design.

She said that mere presence at the scene of crime does not amount to criminal responsibility and that there is no obligation on someone to prevent a crime being committed.