Kevin Lunney trial: Family will live with scars for the 'rest of their lives'
- Published
Kevin Lunney was tied up, one of his legs was broken and the initials QIH were carved into his chest
The Fermanagh businessman, Kevin Lunney, has said he and his family will live with the physical scars and mental trauma of his kidnapping forever.
Mr Lunney, 51, a director of Quinn Industrial Holdings, was kidnapped outside his home in September 2019.
He was driven across the border to a farm where he was attacked, tortured and told to resign from his job.
Three men were found guilty of falsely imprisoning and intentionally causing harm to Mr Lunney earlier this month.
They appeared at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin for a sentencing hearing.
A man, referred to as YZ for legal reasons, drove the car involved in the kidnapping and inflicted most of the injuries on Mr Lunney.
The court was told he had 180 previous convictions.
Alan O'Brien, 40, of Shelmalier Road, East Wall, Dublin and Darren Redmond, 27, from Caledon Road, East Wall, Dublin were said to have played lesser roles.
'Events like this can never be erased'
Mr Lunney was in court alongside other senior directors and a victim impact statement he had written was read out by a Garda (Irish police) detective.
In the statement, Mr Lunney said: "I know the physical scars and mental trauma will remain with me and my family for the rest of our lives."
He said while the immediate terror has been put behind them "events like this can never be erased".
He said that he thought about the effect of the events of 2019 on his family every day.
He said his family had been his "rock and my refuge and that is why the anguish that they have had to endure is of greater torment to me than the physical pain of the attack".
He paid tribute to his work colleagues and members of the community for the "affirming experience" of a solidarity march held after his abduction which called for an end to the "reign of terror".
He said: "I do not know the reason why the defendants decided to do what they did" but added he was "saddened on a human level that they have ruined their own lives".
"There will never be a place in our community for violence or intimidation," he added.
He also thanked the man who found him lying by the roadside and others who, he said, had saved his life.
'Doing the dirty work'
A defence lawyer said the purpose of the abduction was to remove people legitimately in the company to create vacancies for others.
He said "there was never going to be a seat on the board" for YZ but that he was being paid for "doing the dirty work".
He said those who would have benefitted, had the plan succeeded, were at the top of what he described as "a pyramid of culpability".
At the level below, were people who executed the plan.
He said the defendants were at the lowest level, "the muscle" who carried it out.
A prosecution lawyer said the severity and viciousness of the assault, which also involved a high level of planning and organisation, placed it in a sentencing range of 15 years to life in prison before mitigation.
Mr Lunney, a father of six, was confronted by the gang as he returned from work.
They rammed his car outside his home near Kinawley before setting it on fire.
He was bundled into the boot of an Audi A4 and driven to a farm in County Cavan.
There, he was tied up inside a horse box, beaten, and slashed on the face and chest with a Stanley knife.
The initials QIH were carved into his chest.
Mr Lunney said his attacker told him it was to remind him what this was all about.
He also had his leg broken with two blows of a wooden bat.
His ordeal lasted two-and-a-half hours before he was was doused with bleach and dumped at the side of a quiet country road.
Sentencing was adjourned until 20 December.
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