A conspiracy by a group of young men to silently break into homes so they could make off with car keys came to an end due to an "enormous garda investigation" in the wake of the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe, the Special Criminal Court has heard.
Lorcan Staines SC, who is prosecuting two men alleged to have been part of the conspiracy to commit burglaries, said the group of men engaged in a particular type of burglary, known as a "creeper burglary", at homes throughout Ireland. When they had spotted a car they wanted, they would "pop" the lock to the front door of the house to which it belonged and then silently enter to remove the car keys and make off with the car, Mr Staines said. The burglaries happened late at night when the homeowners were usually asleep.
A Volkswagen Passat stolen in the final creeper burglary in Clogherhead, Co Louth in January 2013, Mr Staines said, was used in the robbery at Lordship Credit Union in which Det Gda Donohoe was shot and killed. Any attempt to continue with the creeper burglaries after that, counsel said, would not be possible due to the "enormous garda investigation" focussed on that area and because the accused man James Flynn and Aaron Brady, who has been convicted of murdering Det Gda Donohoe, moved to America.
