State will not oppose Osgur Breatnach's bid to clear name over Sallins train robbery

Alison O’Riordan

The State will not oppose Osgur Breatnach's bid to have his wrongful conviction for the Sallins train robbery five decades ago declared a miscarriage of justice, his lawyers have told the Court of Appeal.

The mail train robbery took place on March 31st, 1976, when the Cork-to-Dublin train was diverted near the Co Kildare town, and an estimated £200,000 (€230,00) was stolen.

Breatnach, who is now aged 75, was one of a number of members of the Irish Republican Socialist Party who were subsequently arrested.

During interrogation, three men signed alleged confessions, and all exhibited injuries they claimed were inflicted by gardaí.

The confessions were obtained at the hands of the 'Heavy Gang' garda unit, whose treatment of prisoners in custody became the subject of an Amnesty International report in 1977.

In December 1978, Breatnach and two others were convicted by the Special Criminal Court on their statements.

Breatnach was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but his conviction was quashed in May 1980, after the Court of Criminal Appeal ruled that his confession had been obtained under oppression.

He had spent 18 months in jail by the time of his release.

Within the same month, the IRA claimed responsibility for the theft.

Breatnach is now seeking to have his conviction declared a miscarriage of justice.

He had filed an application to the Court of Appeal under section 9 of The Criminal Procedure Act 1993, seeking to certify that a newly discovered fact or facts point to a miscarriage of justice which led to Breathnach’s wrongful robbery conviction on December 13th, 1978.

His case was raised briefly on Friday during a case management list at the Court of Appeal, where his senior counsel, Paul Carroll, told the presiding judge that they had received an affidavit from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) this week setting out the State's position.

Carroll said the DPP was not opposing Breatnach's application for an order under section 9 of The Criminal Procedure Act 1993, which would "shorten matters drastically".

Counsel said the miscarriage of justice hearing on July 21st next would take an hour at most.

He went on to say that because of the position taken by the DPP, he envisaged short written submissions from both sides.