Joe Dillon’s unpublished letter to the media in relation to the RTÉ four part series Garda AR Lar. Episode one, broadcast 21st, January 2008 about Garda Richard Fallon who was shot dead in a foiled armed bank robbery at Arran Quay, Dublin in April 1970. After 50 years, state papers on the case have not been released and questions remain to be answered.
I would be grateful for an opportunity to clarify some matters that I believe to be of public interest. These maters are in the relation the Garda Fallon trial of which I myself was one of the accused. I should state that all of the main points that I make are on public record in the transcripts of the court cases.
First and foremost, I would like to congratulate RTÉ on making this program. However ,I have several reservations vis-à-vis : 1) The accuracy of the technical detail and 2) the general impression of the trial and it’s outcome that was portrayed.
(click on letter to enlarge)
Therefore the indiscriminate firing on the car could not have been legal. The latter reservation that I would like to raise is with regard to hazy impressions made during the documentary.It was somewhat suggested that the fundamental change in the operation of the Special Criminal Court from trial by jury to summary trials was brought on by this case. This is untrue. At no stage were any claims of intimidation by either jury members or witnesses recorded- this being the states main justification for removing the jury from the court.
Furthermore, the program failed to really acknowledge the extent of time lapse between the death of Garda Fallon and the day of arrest. A period of nearly 18 months had in actual fact elapsed.
Finally, I do not wish to dwell on what could be interpreted as Garda Egan’s unwavering “hard-man talk” in relation to my arrest. There were five witnesses to his behavior that night which suggested it was somewhat to the contrary. I feel that this program, supposedly about the Fallon family attaining justice and closure, instead became a platform for Garda Egan to unreasonably restate false evidence wholly rejected by our legal system 38 years ago.
Is Mise
Joe Dillon Skerries, Co, Dublin 2008.
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