Convicted Garda killer Aaron Brady has admitted to perverting the course of justice during his murder trial when it took place in 2020.
Brady, who was convicted of the 2013 shooting and killing of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe during an armed robbery in Co Louth, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice at the Special Criminal Court on Thursday.
Brady accepted responsibility for recording footage of a Garda interview with Ronan Flynn, a witness who claimed that he had heard Brady admitting to shooting Donohoe three times.
The footage was later posted on social media, with Flynn described as a "rat."
Ultimately, Flynn did not give evidence during Brady's trial in 2020.
Justice Michael White, who oversaw the murder trial in 2020, described the release of the footage as the "most outrageous contempt of court" and a clear attempt to intimidate Flynn and other witnesses.
Brady is further charged with persuading a state witness not to give testimony during his murder trial. He has not entered a plea in relation to that charge, but prosecuting counsel Lorcan Staines SC said the charge should be taken into account during Brady's sentencing hearing.
Following an arraignment on Thursday, Justice Paul Burns refused an application from Brady's lawyers to impose a reporting restriction on Brady's guilty plea.
Justice Burns adjourned sentencing until May 29.
Dean Park, 30, of Cabra Park, Dublin, is also due to go on trial on Thursday afternoon charged with conspiring with Brady to persuade a state witness not to testify during the murder trial.
Brady, from Crossmaglen in Co Armagh, was convicted of the capital murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe in 2020 and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Donohoe was shot dead during an armed robbery of the Lordship Credit Union in Co Louth on January 25, 2013.
Donohoe and his colleague Detective Garda Joe Ryan were carrying out a routine two-person cash escort at the Credit Union when a gang of five men ambushed them.
Donohoe was shot in the head at close range, while the men made off with around €4,000 in cash, mistakenly leaving behind around €30,000.
James Flynn, who was described in court as Brady's "best friend," was found guilty in September 2023 of breaking into a residential property and stealing the keys of a car used in the robbery. Flynn was found not guilty of a further charge of armed robbery of the Lordship Credit Union.
Brady is currently appealing his murder conviction and applied for reporting restrictions to be imposed on his guilty plea, arguing that in the event of a retrial before a jury, the jury may be influenced by reporting of the recent case.
Justice Burns, however, said the Constitution mandates that justice be administered in public and that he was satisfied that Brady's case was not an exceptional one.
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