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Over 1,000 lines of enquiry in Lunney case, court hears

Four men have been in custody since November last year over alleged assault and imprisonment of Kevin Lunney
Four men have been in custody since November last year over alleged assault and imprisonment of Kevin Lunney

A State solicitor has said he is hopeful that a file will be ready in the coming weeks for the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to the investigation into the abduction and false imprisonment of Quinn Industrial Holdings director Kevin Lunney.

State solicitor for Roscommon, Kieran Madigan, told Harristown District Court in Castlerea that a "very extensive investigation" was being carried out and that over 1,000 lines of enquiry were involved.

Mr Madigan said the case was progressing as quickly as possible.

Four men appeared before the court today charged with assault causing harm and false imprisonment of Mr Lunney in Co Cavan in September last year.

Judge James Faughnan was told that the four men were in custody since 26 November last year.

Darren Redmond, 25, from Caledon Road, East Wall, Dublin and Alan O'Brien, 38, of Shelmalier Road, East Wall, were remanded to appear again before Harristown District Court next Friday, 24 January.

Luke O'Reilly, 66, from Mullahoran Lower, Kilcogy, Co Cavan, was remanded to appear before the same court on 14 February.

A fourth defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was remanded to appear before Harristown District Court on 24 January.

Mr Madigan said that it was hoped to have a file ready for the DPP by the end of the month or early in February but said that it was a complex case.

He said that there were over 1,000 lines of enquiry, 400 statements and "very extensive" CCTV footage had been "harvested" and that it took considerable time to analyse all of it.

In addition, Mr Madigan said that there was a large amount of phone data which had to be investigated.

Judge Faughnan said it was a complicated matter as he remanded three of the men in custody until next week and the fourth man until 14 February.