Shell to Sea court cases - 8 & 9th October

mayo | crime and justice | news report Saturday October 11, 2008 08:48 by Rudiger

Below is a rundown on the Shell to Sea cases on Wednesday and Thursday last in Belmullet and Ballycroy court.

Martin & Pat O'Donnell photographed in the evening after the assault

This Wednesday and Thursday saw the return of Shell to Sea protestors to the courts in Belmullet in front of Judge Mary Devins.

I’ll deal first with court on Thursday which saw the return of the case involving Michael Healy, Martin & Pat O’Donnell and Patrick Coyle to Ballycroy court, who are each charged with obstruction (Section 19.3 of the Public Order Act) and a Section 2 assault from an incident that occurred on the 19th January 2007. The defence evidence was heard on Thursday, and damning evidence it was too.

You can read a summary of the garda evidence here: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/88002

First into the witness box was Michael Healy who said that morning started the same as alot of previous mornings with about 70 people gathering at the car park close to Bellanaboy Bridge to show their opposition to what Shell are doing. Everything proceeded as usual with the people slowly making their way to Gate 1 when he heard someone from behind the garda line shout “Take Healy Out”. Mr Healy stated that Grd Marvin Lee (RG144) then grabbed him and tried to drag him to the other side of the road but that other protesters held on to him and dragged him back into the crowd of protestors. Under cross-examination from prosecuting officer Superintendent John Gilligan, Mr Healy disagreed with the assertion that he had moved out across the white line on the road and this had led to Grd Marvin Lee dealing with him. Mr Healy stated that Sgt Dermot Bulter was the only garda that he recognised on the day that he saw around the area at the time of the incident. Supt Gilligan also put it to Mr Healy that he had tried to head butt Grd. M. Lee and that his head had made contact with the peak of his Grd Lee's hat. Mr Healy denied this and said that in fact he had been hit a few digs in the ribs by Grd. M. Lee.

Next to give evidence was Patrick Coyle, who stated that he saw Sgt Bulter and Grd Greg Burke with his video camera around the area of the bridge as he was walking up. He stated that he saw and heard Sgt. Bulter shout the order to "Take Healy Out". He then gave evidence that when he saw Michael Healy being dragged out of the crowd by Grd Marvin Lee, he had grabbed Mr Healy's hand and tried to drag him back. Mr Coyle then said that he was then punched in the head, nose and mouth by Grd. M. Lee. He stated that he then began shouting "RG144 punched me". He said that things then calmed down for a period and he had headed back into the crowd when he was struck on the back of the head. Mr Coyle stated that the next thing he remembered is coming to on the ground after blanking out and stated that he thought he was out for a second or two. Mr Coyle said that he then asked his mother Lily, "Who hit me?" to which is mother replied "GW232". Mr Coyle stated that he had been cut on the forehead and was bleeding in the mouth after the incident and that he had then gone to Castlebar to have is injuries looked at and had also gone to a dentist that day as some of his teeth had come loose. He stated that his teeth had been damaged either by the punch or being knocked to the ground and that only recently had he had the damage to his teeth been fully fixed, nearly 2 years after the incident. Under cross examination, Patrick Coyle stated that he now knew GW232 to be Grd Peter Lee, the father of Marvin Lee. Mr Coyle rejected the assertion put to him, as Sgt Kleisham had stated in his evidence that Sgt Kleisham had stopped him punching at Grd M. Lee by grabbing his arm. Mr Coyle stated that he had both of his hands on Mr Healy and was trying to drag him back when he was punched in the face. Mr Coyle said that later that day he had gone to the dentist with his injuries and that following this he had gone to Belmullet Garda station where he initiated a complaint against Gardas Peter & Marvin Lee. Subsequently he had decided to take the civil route as he didn't accept the idea of Gardaí investigating Gardaí would do a satisfactory job.
Next to give evidence was Lily Coyle (Patrick Coyles mother) who stated that the first she knew of the incident was when she heard her son shouting "This is the guard who is causing all the trouble today" and saying that RG144 had punched him. Ms Coyle stated that she stood in front "nose to nose" with Grd M. Lee after she heard this but that things calmed down then for a little while. She stated that she then saw a guard run into the crowd and hit her son in the back of the head. She said that she wanted to go to her son who fell to the ground but instead she went first and made sure she got the number of the guard that hit her son. She stated that this was Garda Peter Lee (GW232). She said that after she went to her son, who was slightly concussed when he got up, and had a cut on his forehead and lip. When asked if she had seen her son assault anyone she stated "I swear to Almighty God, if he had I would not be here today". When asked by the prosecuting officer if she was saying that Gardaí are coming in telling lies in court, she stated "Yes, I'm sorry to say that I am".

Next to give evidence was Martin O'Donnell who stated that he had been late arriving that morning and had been at the back of the crowd. He stated that he hadn't seen any of the initial incident and that the first he saw was 2 guards holding his brother Pat and there was another lashing out at him. He heard his brother saying "don't kill me" and that he was shocked by what he saw. He stated that he then tried to go to his brothers assistance but was himself grabbed by 2 gardaí, one on each hand and punched by a third guard (he gave a garda number but I'm not certain I got it correct so won't put it up). He stated the Garda punched him in the eye, mouth and chest. He stated that he subsequently went to Glenamoy surgery and then went to Castlebar later. Mr M. O'Donnell stated that he had to get stiches on his eye and could barely move his neck after the assualt. He stated that he was shocked at what had happened to him and that all he had was doing was going up to save his brother. When asked by prosecuting officer Supt. Gilligan was it not true that he had hit a garda, Martin O Donnell stated "I swear on my father’s grave and God above that I didn't hit any garda". Mr O Donnell also stated the when he saw his brother, Pat's arms were being held down by his side and that he wasn't holding on to any guards as claimed in garda evidence.

Next to give evidence was Pat O'Donnell who stated that he had also heard the order to "Take Healy out" shouted but wasn't sure who said it. He stated that he didn't see what happened in the initial scuffle but that there was calm for a while after it. Mr P. O'Donnell then stated that he heard Patrick Coyle saying that RG144 had hit him. The next he saw was Mr Coyle on the ground and garda GW232 kicking at him on the ground. Mr O'Donnell stated that he then went to make an attempt to go to Mr Coyle's assistance but was held by 2 guards. He stated that then Garda Peter Lee (GW232) started punching him in the face with both his hands and that Grd P. Lee had bust his nose and loosened the front bridge on his teeth. Mr O'Donnell stated that he hadn't seen his brother Martin at all during the incident and didn't know he was at the protest at all until he saw him after with blood on his face.
Mr P. O'Donnell then gave an account of the rest of his movements for the day, to disprove the evidence of 3 of the gardaí (Grd. Marvin & Peter Lee and Sgt Kleisham) who all stated that they had seen Mr. O Donnell later in the day in Bellanaboy. Mr O'Donnell stated that he left the area and arrived in Belmullet by 9:30am where he saw a local doctor, then went to a friend’s house and then went to Belmullet clinic. He then went back to his friend’s house following which drove to Castlebar hospital for an X-ray to see if his nose was broken. Mr O'Donnell's friend subsequently gave evidence to verify his statements. When asked by his solicitor Alan Gannon to account for Sgt Kleisham's evidence which said that he had seen Pat O'Donnell at 10am in Bellaboy with blood on his face and looking for his mobile phone with his family, Mr O Donnell says that either Sgt. Kleisham had mistaken him for someone else or he's lying, "and if it’s the latter its very very worrying". Mr O'Donnell said that he had his phone with him all day and had the phone records to prove it. Under cross-examination Mr O'Donnell stated that he had only tried to go to the assistance of Patrick Coyle, who Grd Peter Lee was kicking on the ground. He then asked prosecuting officer Supt. Gilligan what he would have done. He said that he ended up with his hands being held by his side with Peter Lee using him as a "punch bag" and also that the garda evidence that he had hit them was "total lies". He then told Supt Gilligan that Gardaí had told lies about him and he wanted to get to the bottom of this.
At this stage Judge Mary Devins intervened to tell Mr O Donnell, "You’re getting carried away, you are the accused person, you are not on a soap box".

After some further questions, Mr O'Donnell questioned how come it was them that had ended up in hospital, and that no Gardaí had been injured or ended up in hospital. When it was put to him by Supt Gilligan that there had been a struggle taking place, Mr O'Donnell replied "There was a beatin' taking place".

Judge Devins then asked Mr P. O'Donnell a few questions but overall seemed more interested in the fact that a photographer had turned up at Castlebar hospital to take a picture of the two O'Donnell brothers and how that came about, rather than any of the details of the assault. She questioned Mr O'Donnell about whether he had phoned the photographer and it seemed that she was angling to suggest that he had tried to self-publicise himself a bit after the event.

The next defence witness however was Peter Wilcox, who works as a professional photographer and who had been at Bellanaboy that morning. It turns out that a journalist rang Mr Wilcox with Mr P. O'Donnell's number and had asked him to get a picture of the injured brothers. This photograph appeared in the following day's Irish Times. Mr Wilcox had been called in to verify that the brothers had been in Castlebar, which conflicts with the evidence of the Garda Marvin & Peter Lee who stated that they saw Pat O'Donnell in the afternoon of the day in question.

The final witness was PJ Moran who stated that he saw a Garda trying to hit Martin O'Donnell. Mr Moran said that the guard was vexed and that he had said to the guard that he should be trying to calm down the situation and that eventually the guard had calmed down.

In his summing up of the case prosecuting officer Supt. Gilligan stated that Michael Healy had been the catalyst for what had followed by stepping out on the road and that Garda Marvin Lee had rightly taken action. He stated that unfortunately the camera hadn't been working and that it had been to the detriment of all that had followed. When questioned by the judge on why none of the defendants had been interviewed he stated that it would have been difficult because of the ongoing tense situation in the area. When questioned by Judge Devins with regard to the fact that the garda evidence doesn't try to account for how the injuries to the defendants took place, Supt. Gilligan seemed to suggest that it could have happened in the scuffle.

In his summoning up, solicitor for the defendants Alan Gannon stated that overall the gardaí had had difficulty coming up with uniformity on their events of the day and gave examples of this conflict of evidence. He stated that the defence witness evidence was alot more persuasive and of a greater quality than the garda evidence.
Mr Gannon questioned why the Gardaí had never sought to question any of the defendants or any other witnesses and also questioned the delay in bringing the charges. He also called the missing video footage "highly suspicious" and stated that "it creates the impression that the camera was turned off because the protestors were getting a beating".
Mr Gannon also questioned why if the situation was as serious and dangerous as described how it was that none of the defendants had been charged with the more serious Section 19(1) of the Public Order Act (assault of a garda) charge or a Section 3 assault. He suggested that this was because the gardaí wouldn't want the case going to the Circuit Court where they could get a trial by jury. Judge Devins took exception to this stating that the standard of proof was the same in the District Court as in the Circuit Court.

Judge Devins stated that she would examine the evidence and deliver a verdict on the 10th of December.

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Wednesday saw a total of 6 people standing against charges for their opposition to Shells plans in North Mayo.

First of all 2 applications were made by Sgt James Gill and Grd Hugh Egan against Martin McDonnell claiming that he had breached a court order placed on him in September that he wasn’t supposed to go near Shell sites in the area. One of these application relate to the fact that Mr McDonnell was seen standing beside Maura Harrington’s car while she was on hunger strike outside the gates of the Glengad compound and shows the vindictiveness that the Gardaí of the area have stooped to, to try prevent people from opposing this project. These will be heard in Ballina on the 15th of October and could see the 1 month suspended sentence enforced, if Mr McDonnell is found to have breach the judges’ orders.

The next cases up was the hearing of the cases against Martin O’Donnell and John Farell who were up on charges of unlawful entry (Section 11 of the Public Order Act) on Coillte land and criminal damage to security fences.

The first prosecution witness was Andy Lewis who works as a geologist for AGEC that work as a subcontractor to Shell carrying out ground investigations. He stated that on the 30th of October 2007, he and others were working on the Coillte land in Bealgeally South drilling a borehole to recover core in order to investigate the ground. He stated that there was a double layer of security fencing surrounding the drilling rig and they had been told to continue drilling unless this security fencing was breached by protestors. At around noon, some protestors approached the work and at first the workers continued drilling until the fence was breached by some of the protestors. Mr Lewis stated that the gardaí then arrived and that then the workers stood back. Mr Lewis stated that he had a camera with him used for his work and that he had taken pictures of the protestors. He handed in some of the pictures he had taken to the court; one which he alleges shows Mr O Donnell and Mr Farell pulling down the fence.

Under cross-examination from the solicitor for the defendants Alan Gannon, Mr Lewis stated that it was another company, RPS that were in charge of the drilling, and that they would have dealt with the permissions for the work and that he didn't concern himself with what permissions were in place. Mr Lewis accepted that there had been issues over permission with work previously.

Next to give evidence was Grd Gus Moran who stated that when he arrived at the scene of the Coillte land that he had seen John Farell and Martin O'Donnell pulling down one of the security fences. He stated that he had warned the protestors that they were trespassing and that after a 2 hour stand-off the protestors left the area. Under questioning from Alan Gannon, Grd Moran stated that he had assumed that Shell and sub-contractors had permission to do the work. Mr Gannon also questioned him on why he had assumed that the protestors who arrived had been trespassing on the Coillte site.

Next to give evidence was Grainne McInerney who is an employee of Shell. She stated that she had a letter from Coillte stating that they had permission to carry out works in the area. She stated that the company who owned the fencing had put in an invoice for €459 to cover fencing that had been damaged. Under cross examination Ms. McInerney stated that she didn't know if trees had been felled in the area for the work. Mr Gannon also questioned the permissions that Coillte had given to RPS, to which Ms. McInerney stated that Shell would have had got some of the permissions.

After the final prosecution witness Detective Noel Brett gave evidence, Alan Gannon sought to have the unlawful entry charge dismissed seeing as the wording in Section 11 relates to a building or its curtilage, a point with which Judge Devins agreed couldn't relate to the Coillte land in question. Judge Devins dismissed the Section 11 charge against the 2 men.

The only defense witness was Martin O'Donnell who stated that he went to the drilling work on the day in question to see what was going on and because in the week previous Shell & RPS had been found to be drilling illegally on an SAC by members of the public. He stated that on the day in question Willie Corduff had asked to see permission for the work that was being carried out. With regard to the photograph that was taken of him holding on to the fence he stated that the fence had been pulled down and that he was trying to stop the fence from falling on top of him.

In summing up Alan Gannon stated that there were question marks over the legality of the work and that the photograph of the 2 defendants holding on to the fence is the only evidence against to two men. He stated that his two clients state that the fence was falling down and they were trying to protect themselves.

Judge Devins will give her verdict in Belmullet on the 12th of November.

The final case of the day saw Sean & Maura Harrington charged with breach of the peace and obstructing a garda relating to an incident in April 07 when President Mary McAleese was opening the Civic Buildings in Belmullet.

In giving their evidence Sgt's James Gill & Dermot Bulter stated that Maura Harrington lunged at the President when she came into the building and had to be stopped by some of the presidential entourage initially and then by them. Sgt Bulter stated that he then picked up Ms Harrington and carried her out of the building. He stated that as he was carrying her out that she had kicked him in the shins. The gardaí also stated that Ms Harrinton's brother Sean then tried to interfere with Sgt Bulter removing his sister (stating that Mr Harrington came in from outside the building) and that Sgt Gill then had to forcibly eject Mr Harrington. They both stated that Mr Harrington had not been in the building at all except as far as the foyer at the front. Both gardaí claimed that Ms Harrington had also verbally abused them.
At one point during the cross-examination it was put to Sgt. Butler that he had been sort of waltzing Ms Harrington out of the building and that this was how she had hit his shins, Sgt Butler defiantly stated that "I definitely wasn't waltzing with Maura Harrington".
Next the video that Grd Greg Burke had taken from outside the Civic Buildings on the day in question. As usual with Grd Burke's footage, the actual incident wasn't on camera, with him filming only the aftermath. The video showed Mr & Ms Harrington being ejected from the building following which Grd Burke told Maura Harrington to "Stand over there now with the other protestors, like a good girl". The video then shows Ms Harrington call the gardaí in front of her "Dirty Rotten Beholden Gobshites".

In her evidence, Ms Harrington stated that on the day in question she had been in the Civic buildings before the President arrived and had taken up a position against a pillar and was holding the Irish Times in front of her. She said that there had been an article in the Irish Times that day regarding Willie Corduff who had just won the Goldman Prize and her aim that day was to stand there so that the President would see her with the article. She stated that she never lunged at the President and that just after the President had passed her, Sgt Bulter came up and said "Get out or your going". She stated that then Sgt Bulter picked her up and dumped her outside unceremoniously. She stated that as her feet were in the air while being carried by Sgt Bulter, her legs might have hit him. Ms Harrington stated that she wasn't used to being treated like that and contrary to how some people protray her, she neither enjoys it or thinks she deserves it.

Next Sean Harrington gave evidence and stated that he was appalled and bewildered at the evidence given by Sgt Gill. He stated that he had been inside the building and that the Presidential party had walked past him and that he had said nothing. After the Presidential party had past, Sgt. Gill came up to him and confronted him and Mr Harrington had questioned why he was being picked on. He stated that then he saw Sgt Bulter picking up his sister but never attempted to physically interfere or intervene but had told Sgt Bulter to let her go. Mr Harrington then said that Sgt Gill had then started to push him out of the building. Mr Harrington stated that at one stage his foot got jammed in an edge of the door but that Sgt Gill had continued pushing him which had led to his shoes being damaged. He stated that he had the damaged shoes with him in court. Mr Harrington stated that he had never been questioned or asked for his version of events by gardaí.

Judge Devins then adjourned the court for the day. The evidence of the case will continue on the 14th of Jan 09.

Reflections
Overall it was a enlightening and interesting 2 days in court, with some very damning testimony against the Gardaí on the second day in Ballycroy.
Regarding the case involving the Coillte land it once again brought up the issue of Shell and their subcontractors working without correct permissions. Even though it wasn't displayed in court, campaigners had a letter from Coillte stating that Coillte had no arrangement with RPS regarding the land, this runs contrary to the letter that RPS claim to have from Coillte saying they can carry out works. Also Shell & RPS didn't have permission to fell trees in that area which was done in order to carry out the work that was challenged.
Regarding the case of 4 assaulted protestors - the genuiness and overall believability of the evidence given in Ballycroy stood in marked contrast to the garda evidence. I think that Pat O'Donnell summed it up when he asked the question on the stand, how was it that 3 of the protestors who are up on charges of assault ended up with injuries necessitating them to visit hospital or dentists and the Gardaí that they allegedly assaulted were unscathed from the day’s events. The garda evidence never dealt with how the injuries came about but also never challenged the fact that the injuries occurred at the protest on the morning. Back in 2004, before Shell to Sea cases came before her, in a case relating to a road traffic incident, Judge Mary Devins questioned whether she could trust the evidence of Gardaí before her. It will be very interesting to see how she rationalisises these huge gaps in Garda evidence.
On Wednesday morning a Shell to Sea campaigner asked Judge Devins for some slight latitude in a case involving the prosecution of gardaí but this was denied by the judge on the grounds that it was "contrary to natural justice and the constitutional rights of the defendants". In recent weeks a number of people living in the area have received a letters back from the Garda Ombudsman saying that complaints they have made will not be brought any further. I myself have received word back from the Ombudsman that punches that I received from Gardaí will go unpunished. I ask the question where is the "natural justice and the constitutional rights" of the many people in this area who have been assaulted and otherwise disrespected by the people that the State claims are there for our protection.