The Supreme Court has made a significant ruling in relation to the admissibility of mobile phone evidence gathered in breach of European Union law.
The judgement was made on the back of an appeal taken by a gunman for the Kinahan cartel against his conviction for attempted murder.
In 2021, a hitman for the Kinahan cartel was convicted of the attempted murder of James 'Mago' Gately.
The Supreme Court heard arguments in relation to the admissibility of call records and location data used against him.
His lawyers argued that the evidence should not have been allowed, because the Irish law which allowed for its retention and subsequent use in a criminal investigation was in breach of EU law.
In today's judgement the court accepted that the evidence was unlawfully gathered but crucially it ruled, by majority verdict, that it was not gathered in “deliberate or conscious violation” by the investigation team because the controversial law was still on the Irish statute book at the time.
Today's ruling could have significance in relation to other high-profile cases, including a similar appeal taken by convicted murderer Graham Dwyer.
