Director of Public Prosecutions v Patrick O’Neill
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Mr Conway |
| Judgment Date | 2013 |
| Neutral Citation | [2013] NIMag 1 |
| Court | Magistrates' Court (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 07 October 2013 |
1
Neutral Citation No. [2013] NIMag 1 Ref:
2013NIMag1
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
07/10/2013
(subject to editorial corrections)*
IN DUNGANNON MAGISTRATES’ COURT
IN THE COUNTY COURT DIVISION OF FERMANAGH & TYRONE
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS
Complainant
-v-
PATRICK O’NEILL
Defendant
DEPUTY DISTRICT JUDGE (MC) CONWAY
1. The defendant in the present case has been summonsed to answer a complaint
charging him with two counts of possessing counterfeit money without lawful
excuse contrary to section 16(2) of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981.
During police interview he made certain admissions to the offences. The
defendant now alleges these admissions were made on foot of representations
made by the police that he was going to given an ‘informal warning’ in relation
to the offences instead of being prosecuted. In those circumstances the
defendant applied to have the proceedings stayed as an abuse of process; or, in
the alternative, for the said admissions to be excluded under Articles 74 and/or
76 of the Police and Criminal Evidence (NI) Order 1989 (“PACE”).
2. The prosecution is represented by Mr Donnelly of the Public Prosecution Service
and the defendant is represented by Ms Lynch BL, instructed by McNamee
McDonnell Duffy Solicitors. I am grateful to both representatives for their
helpful written and oral submissions.
Facts
3. The prosecution evidence comprised of 4 witnesses: Constable Caroline Nethery;
Constable Mark Craig; Constable Keith Courtney and Mr Stephen McGregor. At
the outset of the hearing the defence indicated that the statements of Constable
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Craig, Constable Courtney and Mr McGregor could be admitted into evidence
without the need for oral testimony.
4. Having listened to the evidence of Constable Nethery and upon reading the
agreed statements, and having heard the oral evidence of Mr McNamee solicitor
in the voire dire, I make the following findings of fact.
5. On 2 February 2012 police conducted a search of 60 Mullaghteige Road,
Dungannon, pursuant to a warrant issued under section 23 of the Misuse of
Drugs Act 1971 and section 25 of the Theft Act (NI) 1969. This is the family
home of the defendant who is 22 years old; he lives in the family home with his
mother, father and two brothers. The family operates a coal ‘cash-n-carry’
business. During the search the police seized several items including a quantity
of cash found in a safe. They also found two £20 notes in one of the bedrooms
within the house; due to the quality of these two notes, police believed them to
be counterfeit and, therefore, seized them also. The two notes were seized by
Constable Courtney and Constable Craig, respectively, in what was described by
both police officers as “Bedroom 2” of the house. Each note was placed into
individual evidence bags and marked KC1 and MC1, respectively. Both of these
evidence bags were then handed to Constable Nethery. The defendant was not
present at the house during the search.
6. On 10 April 2012 Mr McGregor, an employee in De La Rue Currency which
prints banknotes for the Northern Bank and Ulster bank, examined “two (2)
items in the case against Patrick O’Neill which purported to be either a Northern
Bank £20 note, or an Ulster Bank £20 note”. Mr McGregor received these two
items in evidence bags which he signed. As a result of his examination he
concluded the notes to be counterfeit.
7. Constable Nethery returned to the house on two or three occasions thereafter
looking for the defendant, but to no avail (although she did speak to his mother).
Finally, on 2 April 2013, the Constable, by chance, saw the defendant at a petrol
station on the Dublin Road, Enniskillen. She arrested him on suspicion of theft
and criminal damage in relation to an unrelated matter and granted him “street
bail” to appear at the police station for interview.
8. The defendant duly attended Dungannon PSNI Station on 21 February 2013
accompanied by his solicitor, Mr McNamee. The custody log opened in respect
of the defendant indicated he was being detained on suspicion of theft, criminal
damage and possessing counterfeit currency. Mr McNamee was aware that his
client was being detained in relation to the counterfeit money and would be
asked questions in interview regarding same.
9. Police conducted an interview with the defendant, commencing at 19:04 hours
on 21 February 2013; present were Mr McNamee, Constable Nethery and
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