Garda murderer was enhanced prisoner at time of alleged conspiracy to pervert course of justice

Aaron Brady, who murdered Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe, was an enhanced prisoner in Mountjoy with unique access to a laptop when he is alleged to have conspired with another inmate to prevent a witness giving evidence at Brady's trial, the Special Criminal Court has heard.

Prison officer Pat Ferris told the trial of Dean Byrne, Brady's alleged conspirator, that he knew Aaron Brady as a prisoner in 2020. 

The witness told prosecution counsel Lorcan Staines SC that Brady was housed on the D-wing on the basement floor, an area reserved for prisoners who enjoy special privileges for good behaviour. The trial has previously heard that Dean Byrne was on a different floor of the same wing.

Those in the basement, Officer Ferris said, would have jobs or attend education courses and have more freedom to move around. They also receive extra phone calls and would get extra money for the tuck shop.

Brady, he said, was in cell 20 in the D-basement, a single occupancy cell. He was a volunteer with the Red Cross and in that role would sometimes bring leaflets to the cells on all four landings on D-wing. Officer Ferris told defence counsel Padraig Dwyer SC that he could not recall if Brady carried out a leaflet drop in April or May of 2020.

Deputy governor of Mountjoy, John Quinn, recalled that during Brady's trial the court ordered that the prison provide Brady with access to a laptop so he could review his book of evidence.