A housemate of garda killer Aaron Brady was treated as a hostile witness on Tuesday in the trial of a man accused of the robbery at Lordship Credit Union, during which Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe was murdered.
Colin Hoey told the Special Criminal Court he did not see the accused, James Flynn, and Brady "at all" on the night of the raid.
However, Mr Hoey, of O'Neill Estate, Cregganduff, Co Armagh, told the defence that he was asked on a number of occasions to change his statement and alleged that a garda had threatened him with jail a number of times.
Under cross-examination, the witness said he could not be sure of the date that Brady and Mr Flynn were in his house.
Brendan Treanor (34), previously of Emer Terrace, Castletown Road, Dundalk, Co Louth, and James Flynn (32), from South Armagh, are charged with the robbery of €7,000 at Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, Co Louth, on January 25th, 2013.
Both men are also charged that between September 11th, 2012, and January 23rd, 2013, they conspired with Brady and others to enter residential premises with the intention of stealing car keys.
The prosecution alleges that Mr Treanor and Mr Flynn were part of a group of young men who conspired to break into houses to steal car keys and then quietly make off with the cars. They have pleaded not guilty to each charge.
Brady (31), previously of New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, is serving a life sentence with a 40-year minimum having been found guilty of murdering Det Gda Adrian Donohoe and of the robbery at Lordship. He denied any involvement in the robbery and is awaiting an appeal against his conviction.
Housemates
Mr Hoey told Brendan Grehan SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), that he made a second statement to gardaí on September 12th, 2017, at Carrickmacross Garda station concerning the events of January 25th, 2013, and that he was present in court on Tuesday on foot of a witness order.
The witness said he was living in the same house as Brady, on Lough Road, Co Armagh, in late 2012 and into the beginning of 2013.
Mr Hoey said he went to school with Brady in Crossmaglen and that he knew who Brady "hung around with" but could not name them "off the top of my head".
Mr Hoey said he would have been in the house on the Lough Road at 9pm on January 25th, 2013, and that Brady would have been there for "some parts through the night", but said he could not remember as he was drinking heavily at the time.
"I can't recall whether I seen him that night or the night before," he added.
The witness said he also could not recall whether he had seen Mr Flynn on the night of January 25th or the night before and repeated that he was drinking heavily at the time.
Mr Hoey told Mr Grehan that he had made the second statement to gardaí in the company of his father on September 12th, 2017, concerning the events of January 25th, 2013, adding that it had been read over to him on video and he had signed it.
Asked if he had told the truth in the statement on September 12th, Mr Hoey said he had and that he had recently read it.
Hostile witness
In the absence of the witness, the court agreed to a prosecution application to treat him as a hostile witness. Mr Hoey was then taken through his 2017 statement by Mr Grehan line by line, which had been taken by Detective Garda Paul Gill and Garda Padraig O'Reilly.
In the 2017 statement, Mr Hoey said he had made an initial statement to gardaí in 2013 and that he now wished to withdraw it as he could not stand over what was said at the time.
Mr Hoey agreed with Mr Grehan that he had said in his initial statement in 2013 that Brady and Mr Flynn were in his house between 9.15pm and 10.45pm on January 25th, 2013.
Asked by Mr Grehan if this was true, Mr Hoey said: "From my knowledge at the time it was true. I couldn't be 100 per cent sure of dates and times."
"You then said I cannot stand over this, is that true?" Mr Grehan asked, to which Mr Hoey said it was.
Asked what it was that he could not stand over, the witness said "the dates and times".
Mr Grehan put it to the witness that he had told gardaí in the second statement that he did not see Brady or Mr Flynn "at all" on January 25th, 2013, and asked him if that was his current position and evidence, which Mr Hoey said it was.
Alleged threats
Under cross-examination, Bernard Condon SC, defending Mr Flynn, put it to Mr Hoey that his evidence on Tuesday was that he could not be sure of the date that Brady and Mr Flynn were in his house and asked him if this was still his position, which Mr Hoey again said it was.
Mr Hoey said he had been put under a lot of pressure about this and alleged that a garda had threatened him with jail a number of times. Mr Hoey told the lawyer he felt unsafe, considered it a threat, and that was what led him to go to the Garda station in September 2017.
The witness said he was asked on a number of occasions to change his statement. Mr Hoey said it was a traumatic time, adding he was severely depressed and had sat in his house for months at a time, frightened to go anywhere.
In re-examination, Mr Hoey told Mr Grehan he had withdrawn his first statement from gardaí as he was not sure of the dates and times in that statement as he was under severe pressure.
"I felt under pressure from gardaí while I was giving the first statement, I felt like I was being interrogated," he said.
The witness said he made a complaint to his solicitor Danny McNamee but not to gardaí.
He added that he went to gardaí voluntarily in May 2017. He agreed with the prosecution that he had wanted to withdraw his first statement as he "wasn't sure about times and dates" and said his second statement was the truth.
In summary, Mr Hoey agreed with Mr Grehan that his position in his second statement from September 2017 was that he had not seen Brady and Mr Flynn "at all" on January 25th, 2013, and it must have been the previous night when they called to the house at Lough Road. "Is that true?" Mr Grehan asked, to which the witness replied that it was.
The trial continues on Wednesday before Mr Justice Tony Hunt, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Alan Mitchell.
