Arrest on suspicion of IRA membership illegal, rules court

The arrest of a man on suspicion of IRA membership in connection with the murder of a prison officer near Lurgan was unlawful, a court has ruled.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Mar 2014, 10:21 BST

Vincent Banks, 46, of Smithfield Gate Apartments in Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of withholding information in relation to the murder of David Black. Mr Black was shot dead on the M1 as he went to work at Maghaberry Prison in November 2012.

Last week, the trial at Dublin’s Special Criminal Court entered a voir dire, a trial within a trial to determine legal issues relating to the detention and arrest of the accused man as well as searches of his apartment in Smithfield and an address in Finglas.

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Mr Banks is charged with membership of an unlawful organisation, the dissident Irish republican group calling itself the IRA, on 18 December, 2012. He has been remanded on the membership count and the matter is due to proceed immediately upon the judgement on the withholding information count. The defence challenged the arrest of Mr Banks under Section 30 (A) of the Offences Against the State Act. The trial continues.