The Sallins Train robbery occurred on 31 March 1976 when the Cork to Dublin mail train was robbed near Sallins in County Kildare, Ireland. Approximately £200,000 was stolen. Over 40 members of the Irish Republican Socialist Party, relatives or their friends were detained in the biggest round-up since WWII. Five members of the Irish Republican Socialist Party, Osgur Breatnach, Nicky Kelly, Mick Plunkett and John Fitzpatrick, Michael Barret and ex- member Brian McNally were arrested in connection with the robbery.[1]
During interrogation in Garda Síochána custody, all except Plunkett signed alleged confessions, presenting with extensive bruising and injuries they claimed were inflicted by members of the Gardaí. The defendants all claimed they were innocent and that the statements were concocted by the Gardai.
Six months later, after the failure of the authorities to produce a "book of evidence" against them, the six were released but four were re-arrested and charged before the juryless Special Criminal Court.
The trial of Breatnach, Plunkett, McNally and Kelly in the juryless Special Criminal Court became notorious. The dendants, solicitors and members of the public swore one of the judges was sleeping during the trial. The High Court and Supreme Court refused to stop the trial. Both the trial and sleeping judge allegations continued until the 'Sleeping Judge', Judge John O'Connor of the Circuit Court.[2]died shortly thereafter, at 65 days into the trial. It was by then the longest-running trial in Irish criminal history.
At a new trial, independent medical evidence of beatings and torture was again presented to the court. The court rejected this evidence, finding that the beatings had been self-inflicted or inflicted by the co-accused. Anticipating a conviction, Kelly fled before the conclusion of the second trial. The three were found guilty, solely on the basis of their alledged confessions, and sentenced to between nine and 12 years' prison (Kelly was sentenced in absentia).
In May 1980, after an international campaign, including the song Open Those Gates by popular band Moving Hearts, Breatnach and McNally were acquitted on appeal on the grounds that their statements had been taken under duress. International jurists and human rights organisations attended the appeal, invited by the prisoners.
The same month, prior to the appeal, the Provisional IRA claimed responsibility for the robbery.[1]
Kelly returned to Ireland from the USA in June 1980, expecting to be acquitted. Instead he was incarcerated in the maximum-security Portlaoise Prison and spent the next four years proclaiming his innocence, including a 38-day period on hunger strike.[2]
After another international campaign by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Amnesty International and the Release Nicky Kelly activist group (including a song, banned by RTE, Wicklow Boy, by the popular folk singer Christy Moore), Kelly was eventually released on "humanitarian grounds" in 1984. He was given a presidential pardon in 1992 and received £1,000,000 in compensation.[2] Breatnach and McNally were also given compensation.[1]
All those tortured and framed are still seeking a public state- appology and an independent public inquiry to determine the truth of the frame-up.
To date, despite international legal obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights and the UN Convention Against Torture, the Irish Government refuses to hold an inquiry.
References
- ^ a b c Murtagh, Peter (2015-10-02). "The drama and debacle of the Sallins train robbery". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
- ^ a b c "Wrongly jailed for train heist". Wicklow People. 2014-10-18. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
- Nicola Cooke (October 15, 2006). "Truth about Sallins robbery". ThePost.ie.
- Joe Joyce and Peter Murtagh (1984). Blind Justice. Poolbeg Press. ISBN 0-905169-64-6.
- McGarry, Patsy (2006). While Justice Slept: The True Story of Nicky Kelly and the Sallins Robber. Ireland: The Liffey Press. ISBN 978-1905785049.
- Osgur Breatnach, journalist, author.www.sallinsinquirynow.ie