Aaron Brady, who murdered Garda Adrian Donohoe, along with his accomplice, have been given a combined five-year prison sentence by the Special Criminal Court for scheming to disrupt justice during his capital murder trial. The three-year sentence added to Brady’s existing life sentence for the murder, given on Monday, will not extend his time behind bars. Brady conceded that he recorded and subsequently shared on social media a conversation between the police and Ronan Flynn, a witness who claimed to have heard Brady confess to the shooting of Det. Garda Donohoe.
Flynn refrained from testifying at Brady’s trial, and the presiding judge, Mr Justice Michael White, condemned the dissemination of the video as an “appalling contempt of court” and a blatant attempt to scare Flynn and other testimonies. Brady’s co-conspirator, Dean Byrne from Cabra Park, Phibsborough, Dublin, was due for release this year after serving ten years for various crimes, including aggravated burglary, and has a record of 127 previous convictions.
Upon his conviction last month for plotting to dissuade a trial witness from testifying, Mr Justice Paul Burns handed down a two-year sentence to Byrne, which will commence following the completion of his current sentences. Mr Justice Burns noted the severity of the crimes committed by Brady and Byrne against the due administration of justice, referring to the “gravely serious” capital murder case. Any efforts by individuals to bypass the law could severely destabilise our justice system, which is unacceptable in a democratic society.
Nevertheless, the judge emphasised that the attempts to deter witnesses did not involve force, threats or allurements, and so the sentence should reflect society’s disapproval for unlawful interference in the justice system, while keeping in mind the methods used.
The court decreed primary sentences of five and four years for Brady and Byrne, respectively. Nevertheless, after contemplation of extenuating circumstances and their current lengthy jail terms, the judge lessened these to three and two years respectively.
In August 2020, a jury found Brady (33), formerly a resident of New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, guilty of Det Garda Donohoe’s murder during a credit union heist at Lordship, Bellurgan, Co Louth on 25th January 2013.
Earlier in the year, Brady admitted that between 20th February and 7th May 2020, while in the country, he taped an interview between Mr. Flynn and An Garda Síochána, thereby initiating actions aimed at subverting justice.
While residing in New York in October 2017, Mr. Flynn conversed with the gardaí. He reported sharing an apartment with Brady, often hearing him confess to the shooting of Det Garda Donohoe when inebriated, during which times Brady would listen to the Wolfe Tones, become “angry and frustrated with himself” and occasionally blurt out confessions like ‘crap, I killed a cop’.
Section of Mr. Flynn’s interview video was shared on WhatsApp, YouTube, and Facebook, along with messages accusing him of ‘touting’ and the claim that his alleged charges in the US were dismissed in exchange for his testimony.