Aaron Brady, who was convicted for the capital murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe, has been unsuccessful in his attempt to challenge and nullify his conviction. His appeal, which were based on almost 50 grounds and took seven days of hearing last October, was declined by the Court of Appeal, with the bench of three judges declaring it as one of the longest cases they have presided over.
Brady was found guilty in 2020 for Donohoe’s murder, committed while the latter was performing his garda duties. Since the verdict, Brady has been serving his mandatory 40-year life sentence. Today’s summary judgement, delivered by Justice John Edwards, encompassed a comprehensive 363-page document penned by the triad of judges.
The judges unanimously dismissed every appeal ground, defying Brady’s legal team’s arguments that his trial’s integrity was violated when a pivotal witness, Molly Staunton, was abruptly interrupted by an unidentified man during her video testimony from New York in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Brady’s legal team argued that this incident merited a retrial.
Contrarily, Mr Justice Edwards stated that the disruption failed to present a concrete and considerable threat to a fair trial that could not have been evaded with the trial judge’s instructions. He referred to the interruptions as being from the witness’s boyfriend and noted that he had suitably addressed the jury on the matter of accountability for the interruptions.
During her testimony, Ms Staunton claimed that Brady confessed to his guilt over the killing of a policeman in Ireland. Additionally, Ms Staunton testified that during an intoxicated outrage, Brady boasted about being the most intimidating man in Ireland.
At the age of 33, Brady, formerly residing on New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, was escorted into court by prison wardens to receive today’s verdict. Dressed in a blue suit and a pink tie, he showed no emotion as Justice Edwards announced that the jury’s verdict will not be subject to appeal.
Convicted for the murder of 41-year-old Detective Garda Donohoe at Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgen, Co Louth on January 25, 2013, Brady is currently serving a life sentence that entails a minimum of 40 years imprisonment. His conviction is concurrent with a 14-year sentence for conducting a robbery.
Detective Garda Donohoe was escorting cash when he was brutally ambushed and killed by a gang of five men. During the attack, which lasted less than a minute, the gangsters managed to snatch €7,000 in cash.
The trial of Brady was remarked as the longest murder case in the annals of Irish law, spanning 122 court days. After an eight-month trial, the father of one was convicted for the murder of Detective Garda Donohoe by an 11-to-one-guilty jury verdict in the Central Criminal Court on August 12th, 2020. After being pronounced guilty, he was sentenced to a mandatory term for murder in October 2020.
Given his conviction for killing a police officer on duty, the presiding judge ordered a mandatory 40 year minimum term. Speaking to the court, Justice Edwards labelled Brady’s hearing the longest ever conducted by the three-judge court in its decade-long existence.
Justice Edwards attributed the extended duration of the proceedings to the complexity of the case, stating that it involved more issues than any other in the court’s history, resulting in a “significantly comprehensive” judgement.