AGENT IN MCKEVITT TRIAL WAS 'NOT CREDIBLE'
Agent in McKevitt trial was 'not credible'
FBI agent and supergrass David Rupert was "a deeply avaricious man" whose credibility should have been assessed by the Special Criminal Court in the trial of convicted Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt, appeal judges heard yesterday.
McKevitt's counsel Michael O'Higgins SC said that the court had failed to assess Mr Rupert's credibility and had failed to give adequate consideration to the issues which arose in cross-examination about his credibility.
He said that the court had fallen into a very substantial error in dealing with Mr Rupert's evidence during the McKevitt trial.
Mr O'Higgins submitted that the verdict brought in by the Special Criminal Court was flawed.
He said that Mr Rupert was "a deeply avaricious man".
"As far as money goes, the end justifies the means. Such a witness should be treated with a degree of caution." 54-year-old McKevitt, from Beech Park, Blackrock, in Co Louth, was jailed for 20 years by the Special Criminal Court in August 2003 after he was convicted of directing the activities of a terrorist organisation between August 29 1999 and October 23 2000.
He was the first person to be convicted in the state for the offence which was introduced after the Real IRA bomb attack in Omagh in 1998 in which 29 people died.
McKevitt also received a six year concurrent prison sentence for membership of an illegal organisation which the court said was the Real IRA.
McKevitt was in court for the appeal which was also attended by his wife Bernadette Sands McKevitt.
Mr O'Higgins said that any information which seemed to cast doubt of Mr Rupert's credibility was clearly of great significance and it was their case that the Special Criminal Court had failed to grasp that.
He said a number of very serious issues were highlighted and established in evidence which were capable of causing irreparable damage to Mr Rupert's credibility.
Mr O'Higgins said that Mr Rupert, in his own words during the trial, had described himself as "a whore for money".
He said Mr Rupert had been paid around $1.4 million by the FBI and up to �400,000 by the British Security Service.
Earlier McKevitt's other counsel, Mr Hugh Hartnett SC, told the Court of Criminal Appeal that the system of disclosure adopted by the British Security Service misled the court as well as the prosecution and defence.
"It seems open to interpretation that an attempt was made by the British Security Service to delude not only the prosecution and defence, but the court, by the creation of a document to put a slant or colour on certain things that been said unambiguously at an earlier stage," he said.
Mr Hartnett said that issues relating to the criminality of FBI agent David Rupert who was the chief prosecution witness against McKevitt has been raised by the defence but there had been an attempt by the British Security Service to deliberately sanitise embarrassing documentation relating to him.
The appeal continues.
FBI agent and supergrass David Rupert was "a deeply avaricious man" whose credibility should have been assessed by the Special Criminal Court in the trial of convicted Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt, appeal judges heard yesterday.
McKevitt's counsel Michael O'Higgins SC said that the court had failed to assess Mr Rupert's credibility and had failed to give adequate consideration to the issues which arose in cross-examination about his credibility.
He said that the court had fallen into a very substantial error in dealing with Mr Rupert's evidence during the McKevitt trial.
Mr O'Higgins submitted that the verdict brought in by the Special Criminal Court was flawed.
He said that Mr Rupert was "a deeply avaricious man".
"As far as money goes, the end justifies the means. Such a witness should be treated with a degree of caution." 54-year-old McKevitt, from Beech Park, Blackrock, in Co Louth, was jailed for 20 years by the Special Criminal Court in August 2003 after he was convicted of directing the activities of a terrorist organisation between August 29 1999 and October 23 2000.
He was the first person to be convicted in the state for the offence which was introduced after the Real IRA bomb attack in Omagh in 1998 in which 29 people died.
McKevitt also received a six year concurrent prison sentence for membership of an illegal organisation which the court said was the Real IRA.
McKevitt was in court for the appeal which was also attended by his wife Bernadette Sands McKevitt.
Mr O'Higgins said that any information which seemed to cast doubt of Mr Rupert's credibility was clearly of great significance and it was their case that the Special Criminal Court had failed to grasp that.
He said a number of very serious issues were highlighted and established in evidence which were capable of causing irreparable damage to Mr Rupert's credibility.
Mr O'Higgins said that Mr Rupert, in his own words during the trial, had described himself as "a whore for money".
He said Mr Rupert had been paid around $1.4 million by the FBI and up to �400,000 by the British Security Service.
Earlier McKevitt's other counsel, Mr Hugh Hartnett SC, told the Court of Criminal Appeal that the system of disclosure adopted by the British Security Service misled the court as well as the prosecution and defence.
"It seems open to interpretation that an attempt was made by the British Security Service to delude not only the prosecution and defence, but the court, by the creation of a document to put a slant or colour on certain things that been said unambiguously at an earlier stage," he said.
Mr Hartnett said that issues relating to the criminality of FBI agent David Rupert who was the chief prosecution witness against McKevitt has been raised by the defence but there had been an attempt by the British Security Service to deliberately sanitise embarrassing documentation relating to him.
The appeal continues.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0765
Published Date: 10-Nov-05
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