The Clare People Archive

LARGE tracts of land that run along the River Fergus have been rezoned from limited residential to open space in the new Ennis Development Plan in response to fears over flooding.

In what will render the price of land banks located close to Ennis town centre to agricultural prices, the new draft Ennis Development Plan re- zoned land mainly to the south of the Quin Road business park from ‘other settlement land’ to ‘open space’.

The draft plan — which will be pub-

lished next month — also rezones land bordering Lake Girroga on the north outskirts of Ennis from ‘other settle- ment land’ to ‘open space’.

The lands rezoned ‘open space’ to the south of Ennis now form part of a “development exclusion zone”. This ‘development exclusion zone’ also includes the former Doora landfill. Part of these lands have also been re- zoned from ‘other settlement land’ to “open space”.

The move to create development ex- clusion zones follows the completion of a consultant’s report earlier this

year on flooding in the greater Ennis area which recommended the freez- ing of development on 210 acres of land in the town and its surrounds.

The consultants’ report also rec- ommends the spend of €15 million to carry out works on barrage, river channel and N18 bridge upgrade.

Apart from creating new develop- ment exclusion zones, senior plan- ning officials have resisted the cla- mour for rezoning.

As part of the drawing up of a new development plan for Ennis, devel- opers seeking to profit from rezon-

ings were seeking to rezone a total of 1,720 acres of land around Ennis to residential, mixed use, commercial and industrial.

In the 168 submissions received by the council, the developers were seeking to rezone 1,247 acres of land for housing, 150 acres for mixed-use development, 115 acres for commer- cial development, 57 acres for in- dustrial and 97 acres for low density residential zoning.

However, in a planner’s report ap- proved by County Manager Alec Fleming, the vast majority of the

rezoning applications have been rec- ommended for refusal and the current Zonings are to remain as they are.

Planners held workshops’ with councillors and, after much heated debate, have recommended that only 100 acres be rezoned for housing — well short of the 1,247 demanded by developers.

The planners have also recom- mended that 63 acres be rezoned for industrial and commercial develop- ment.

The draft plan is to go on public display next month.

ONE method of killing that was con- sidered was to put medications which could cause a heart attack into liquor, the trial has been told.

However, this was_ eventually deemed not possible, prosecution witness Teresa Engle told the court.

Ms Engle, partner of Essam Eid, confirmed that she has been given immunity from prosecution in this case, by the DPP.

Asked had she ever visited Ireland, she said she had, at the end of August or beginning of September 2006. She said she was due to meet Ashraf Gharbeiah, a friend of Essam’s, and

she stayed at the Queen’s Hotel in En- ny

“T was here to meet Ash. He was supposed to kill, PJ and Robert, no, Robert and Niall, the two sons,” she Said.

She said that she walked to Westgate Business Park, to see the Howards’ business.

“When Ash arrived, I had the previ- ous day before walked around to the business park to see where it was. Me and Ash walked there,’ she said.

Asked how she knew how to find it, She said, “From directions from Sha- ron.”

She said that Ash had “his own plan. He had several medications that

was supposed to cause a heart attack or for somebody to die.”

She said he was going to put these in liquor. “We’d been to a grocery store and looked at the liquors there. We walked to the business park and he decided the plan was not do-able. I think he left the next day.”

She said that she remained in Ire- land for a few days and then travelled to Spain. She was in Fuengirola for a day or two.

‘I was picking up a key to the apart- ment in Spain. I was to look around and find info for Essam . . the loca- tion . . go see the boat.”

Mr O’Connell asked her which apartment was she referring to and

she replied, “Mr Howard’s apartment in Spain.”

She said the keys to the apartment were left in an envelope for her at the hotel. She said she had directions to the apartment “on an email, from Sharon”’.

She said she sat outside a restaurant, down from the apartment “just to look and see if I’d see PJ or Sharon”.

“At that point I was starting to get sick. I just couldn’t bring myself to go in either. I went back to the room and I went back to Ireland for a day or two,” she said.

She said that when she returned to the US, Mr Eid was “furious, because the plan hadn’t been done. He started

working on a visa to come to Ireland to do it himself.”

Asked where the keys to the apart- ment in Spain ended up, she said that after she was arrested, she went to Ennis courthouse. “I wrapped them in tissue paper and put them in gar- bage in the women’s restroom at the courthouse,’ she said.

The witness said that she met Es- sam Eid in 2003 or 2004 at a time she was separated. They met at a casino in Detroit, Michigan. The two devel- oped a relationship and she moved in with him in Las Vegas. She said they married in Las Vegas. She had pre- viously married another man, Todd Engle, three times.

THE ingredients used to make the dangerous poison ricin were listed out in court by Essam Eid’s partner.

Teresa Engle told the trial last Thursday that she and Mr Eid man- ufactured the poison using castor beans, acetone and another ingredi- ent. They then put it into a contact lens case and brought it to Ireland in September 2006.

‘“He’d got a recipe from the inter- net,” she said.

She said they made it with “castor beans, acetone and something else. I can’t remember.”

She told the court she did not know where they had acquired the castor beans.

Mr O’Connell put it to her, “You were involved in the manufacture of ricin,’ to which she replied, “Yes.”

Asked who did it with her, she said, id Bhshcy-0 00

““T think we oiled the beans, took the Skins off, blended it with acetone and something else, put it through a filter, dried it out, to become a powder.”

She said they then put it into a con- tact lens case and there was none leftover.

She said the two had put masks and gloves on, while they were making i

She said that Essam carried the contact lens case in his bag, with his own prescription medicines. She said she was not sure how the ricin was going to be used.

She told the court that “Essam had a website, ‘hitmanforhire’. He got an email from Sharon to kill PJ and his two sons, Robert and Niall. They corresponded. She sent a down pay- ment of, like, €15,000. That would have been in August 2006,” she said.

She said the ‘hitman’ website was set up in February or March 2006. Asked by Prosecutor Tom O’Connell did she see any of the emails, she re- plied, “Yes.”

Asked did Mr Eid use any other name, she replied, “Yes, Tony Lu- ciano. That was the name he used with the website.”

“She had called him several times and he had called her back several times,’ she added.

Asked did she hear this woman speak, she replied, “I heard her voice. It was a very strong Irish accent. She spoke very fast. He kept telling her Slow down, so he could understand her accent.”

Asked what was this woman’s email address, the witness replied, “It was ‘lyingeyes’.”

She said that after the money ar- rived at their home in Las Vegas, the

next stage was “Essam getting hold of Ash and going through with it, getting it done.”

Asked how this was to be done, she replied, “Ash was supposed to be poisoning the sons.”

Asked by Mr O’Connell did any- body else contact the hitman website during this time, she said, “Yes, there was another woman. There were sev- eral people who contacted it to look for work.”

Ms Engle told the trial that she and Mr Eid stayed at the Two Mile Inn hotel in Limerick, when they trav- elled to Ireland in September 2006.

‘He had instructions from Sharon that he had to get the hard drive of the computer in the office. The keys (to the office) were under a brick be- hind a house 1n Ennis,” she said.

She said they picked up the keys and then went into the office to get the computer.

“There was an alarm, but we did have the code from Sharon to turn off the alarm,” she said.

She said they got the main compu- ter hard drive, laptop and a bunch of cords from the office and they took those items back to the hotel.

She said that Essam was trying to reach Sharon but “I don’t think he was able to. He was quite furious. Then he decided instead to go to Robert and sell him the contract.”

She said she travelled with him to Robert’s house and she stayed in the car while he went to the door.

TERESA Engle participated in an alleged plot to kill three Ennis busi- nessmen because she was controlled by her partner Essam Eid, she told the trial last Thursday.

She made the claim during cross- examination by Mr Eid’s barrister David Sutton, who put it to her that she was a “criminal and a fraudster. Do you agree with me?” She said, “No, I do not.”

“You scammed your way out of it by either telling lies or saying noth- ing and you successfully got off scot- free. .. Star witness for the prosecu- tion,’ said Mr Sutton.

‘“That’s not true. I gave my state- ment and agreed to testify here with- out immunity and against the advice

of my attorney who told me not to speak here,’ said Ms Engle.

Mr Sutton asked her did she have access to the ‘hitmanforhire’ website and she said she did.

“Only a fool of the highest order would think it was a serious website,” said Mr Sutton, to which she replied, ‘“That’s why I was so amazed when she sent the money.”

“You had a mug. You had someone who was stupid enough to log onto the website and someone who was stupid enough to send on the money,” said Mr Sutton.

She replied, “I couldn’t believe it.”

Mr Sutton said, “This piece of non- sense was a plot to kill?” she replied, ‘“That’s what it was.”

‘The reason you are saying that is because you are trying to do your-

self a favour in America, where you have pleaded guilty through another shakedown. You are dressing this up as a plot to kill for your own conven- ience and your own advantage,’ said Mr Sutton.

“No, that was what it was,’ replied WeCom Ua LB OTE

“You never intended to do any of this. There was no plan. Ms Engle, you are an incompetent criminal, yes or no?” said Mr Sutton.

“I was merely participating to the extent that I was controlled by Es- sam,’ said Ms Engle.

“Mr Eid was not involved in the plot to kill,” said Mr Sutton.

Ms Engle replied, “That’s ridicu- etna

“Ridiculous is the word because everything you have said to the jury

and the trial is ridiculous,” concluded Mr Sutton.

Os iYeCSmea Keer cc eebbit-lelOsMOnO seme) erste ron Collins barrister Paul O’ Higgins SC, Ms Engel said she was “under Essam’s direction”.

“IT agreed to give evidence here without the immunity and against the advice of my own attorney,’ she renee

Mr O’Higgins asked her why her sentencing hearing for extortion in the US had been adjourned. She said she had sought this, in order to spend DDONCoM UALR MOC MB E-TOONE AYA

“Can I suggest to you it was ad- journed because you hadn’t given evidence in this case?” he asked. She denied this.

“Aren’t you at the mercy of the US authorities as to what evidence you

give here?” asked Mr O’Higgins, but she also denied this.

“What else have you agreed to do? Have you agreed, for example, to act in an undercover capacity for the US attorney’s office and to tap phones and that kind of thing, if required to do so?” asked the barrister.

She replied, “Yes I did that.”

“You have referred repeatedly to Sharon as though you somehow knew Sharon Collins, the defendant in this case. Have you ever met Sharon Col- lins at all?” asked Mr O’ Higgins.

She replied, “No, I have not, at all.”

“All you are doing, far from telling the truth, 1s seeking to advance your position in the proceedings in the US,” said Mr O’Higgins, to which she replied, “That’s absolutely not true.”

DETECTIVE Sergeant Michael Gub- bins told the trial last Friday that he forensically examined an Advent computer which was stolen from the office of Howards’ property business.

He said he had found certain files corresponding to keywords relating to the case. Some were documents stored in the computer’s temporary memory cache during internet us- age. These files related to the email address Lyingeyes98@yahoo.ie and showed an increasingly flirtatious correspondence between Lyingeyes and hire_hitman@yahoo.com.

Det Sgt Gubbins said a file show- ing the inbox of Lyingeyes98 showed a welcome email from Yahoo, dated

August 2, 2006.

Also on August 2, an email had been sent from sharoncollins@eircom.net.

On August 3, a file cached from the website Hitmanforhire.us showed a form filled out. The name was given as Sn Cronin with an email address at Lyingeyes98. The country was listed as Ireland and the space criminal ex- perience had been filled in “no”. At “criminal record” the reply had been given “Not yet”.

Whoever filled the form in said they wanted to “make money doing some- thing useful”.

Det Sgt Gubbins read out the text of several emails that had been found in the computer’s memory, showing pages from the web-based email ac- count for Lyingeyes98.

Successive emails between B Lyons at Lyingeyes, some of which were signed Sharon and Tony Luciano at hire_hitman were found.

On August 8, the computer user booked a flight to Malaga in the name of Sharon Collins and ac- cessed the Eircom email account for Ms Collins. The Lyingeyes email ac- count was logged into seconds after the user logged out of the Sharoncol- lins account.

He said the user also visited the AIB website several times, getting a quote for a personal loan for be- tween €17,000 and €20,000. They also bought a three-month supply of the weight loss drug Reductil from an online pharmacy website in the name of Sharon Collins.

At 10.0lpm the user visited a page on the Hitmanforhire.net website which gave details “how to order a contract killing”.

The user kept searching for the terms “assassins for hire, assassina- tion’, revisiting the Hitmanforhire. us site at 10.11pm and clicked on the Submit button on the contact page.

In one email dated August 15, Lyin- geyes asked hire_hitman about a dis- claimer at the bottom of the website Hitmanforhire.us, which said that the website was a “parody”.

On August 14, an email from Tony Luciano asked B Lyons to send mon- ey to T Engle at 6108 Camden Cove Street, Mr Eid’s Las Vegas address. The court previously heard from Mr Eid’s partner Teresa Engle, who lived

ALO MODUOOMcIimDOr-lmr-Ke(60ucntour-lm Neem BDOOISs

The email gave bank details for an account in the name Essam Eid.

A reply written in the inbox of Lyin- geyes98 mentioned being nervous about sending a package. “I have de- cided to parcel up the money. I will probably put something else in it so it looks like a present. I will also put in the photos and the keys.”

Det Sgt Gubbins said he had also found several photographs in the computer’s memory. There were photographs of PJ, Robert and Niall Howard as well as Sharon Collins. There was also a photograph of Mr Eid in an open top car. Det Sgt Gub- bin said that this file name corre- sponded to an attachment to an email from Tony Luciano to Lyingeyes.

AN Irish soldier has told the trial that he contacted a website advertising contract killings because he thought it was a joke.

Private Brian Buckley told prose- cuting counsel, Una Ni Raifeartaigh he had found the site Hireahitman.us while searching for cheat codes for the Hitman computer game.

Pvt Buckley said he was using the computer at his mother’s house in Ennis when he came across the web- site. It was top of the list of Google

search results so he assumed it was the site he was looking for.

He said the homepage of the site made him think is was an internet prank. “I saw a cartoon animation of a man with a gun. He was wearing a hat, sunglasses and had a pistol. It was a cartoon drawing.”

Pvt Buckley said he looked further into the website until he came to a kind of application form. “Out of my own curiosity or my own stupidity I decided to fill out the form.”

Using the email address Judas69@gmail.com he filled out

the form, giving a false telephone number and a false name, Will Buckimer.

He said there was no significance in either name and the number 69 meant nothing.

Using the application form on the website he filled in fictitious skills. He listed handgun, rifle, sub machine gun, shot gun, sniper, heavy gun, heavy machine gun, grenades, basic booby traps and limited poisons.

He said this was not a true answer, with the exception of rifle and gre- nades.

He said he made first contact with the website on July 29, 2006 and re- ceived a reply from a Tony Luciano on August 10.

The reply read, “I have a job for you if you are interested. Two males in Ireland and one in Spain. ASAP. Let us know. We will try and call you. Thanks. Tony Luciano.”

Pvt Buckley agreed that he had provided his mobile number, but had never at any stage thought the website was serious. He said he “just wanted to see where it would go”.

On August 28 he received another

email from Tony Luciano. “Please help us out for this. I need some strong poison. One of us will be in Shannon. We cannot shift this stuff for security reasons – you know that – so please help us out. Will pay and I will owe you favourite. Thanks brother. Tony.”

Pvt Buckley said that this email made him feel uneasy and he decided to distance himself. He received sev- eral communications from the man calling himself Tony Luciano but would not talk to him and kept tell- ing him he had the wrong number.

A POLISH man who has spent the past two months in custody has been granted bail after a court heard that a voluntary group for homeless people would support him.

Piotr Baran (30), of no fixed abode, appeared before Ennis District Court on Friday, on public order charges.

The court was told he has spent the past two months in custody and was seeking bail.

Josephine O’Brien told the court that she set up a voluntary organi- sation called ‘Help’ and supports homeless people in Ennis.

She said that she was aware of a place where the accused could stay, over the weekend, if granted bail. It was hoped that the Health Service Executive would then be in a posi- tion to find accommodation for Mr Baran.

“T’ll take responsibility for him. He will have to stay away from his old drinking partners. They don’t do him any good. I’m certainly not giving him any more chances,” she said.

Defending solicitor Daragh Has- sett said that Ms O’Brien had made a very good point in relation to the company the accused keeps.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said he supported Mr Hassett in his applica- wlOyee

“Mr Baran has a dreadful addic- tion to alcohol. He seems to be off it now,” he said.

Judge Joseph Mangan granted bail to Mr Baran, to re-appear in court on Due hs

A 61-year-old north Clare man ac- cused of 10 counts of indecent as- sault in the 1960s has been returned for trial to the Circuit Court.

The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is facing nine charges of indecently assaulting a

female and one charge of indecently assaulting a male, in north Clare.

The alleged offences occurred be- tween January 1, 1964 and June 6, RTese2

At Ennis District Court on Friday, the Book of Evidence was served and the accused was returned for trial to Ennis Circuit Court.

A 20-year-old man from the Czech Republic has been charged in con- nection with a €45,000 haul of can- nabis in Ennis last week.

Michal Karchnak, of Lenabeg, La- hinch Road, Ennis, is charged with possession of cannabis resin and possession for sale or supply, at his

home, last Friday, June 13.

He was brought before a special sit- ting of Ennis District Court on Satur- day. Garda Stephen Hession told the court the accused did not make any reply, when charged at Ennis Garda Station the previous evening.

Defending solicitor Daragh Hassett sought bail for his client, who has lived with his mother in Ennis for

the past two years. He said that the case will be going forward for trial and there will be an “obvious delay” due to the preparation of the Book of Evidence.

He said the accused was co-op- erative with gardai and Gda Hession said that “certain admissions were made.”

Gda Hession told the court that

while the accused was in custody, he became aware that a bench warrant was in existence for him.

However, Mr Hassett said, “The bench warrant comes as a surprise to the defendant.”

Mr Hassett applied for free legal aid for the defendant, who works part-time as a stonemason. However the application was deferred until a

later date.

“He is from the Czech Republic. He’s going to meet this case fairly and squarely,” said the solicitor.

However, Inspector Tom Kennedy said the State would be opposing bail, based on the seriousness of the charges. Judge Joseph Mangan re- manded the accused in custody to re- appear in court later this month.

A 30-year-old Kildare man has been brought before a special sitting of Ennis District Court, charged with assaulting a woman in Shannon last WElCE hs

Daniel Darcy, of Tannery Wharf,

Rathangan, County Kildare, is ac- cused of assaulting Bernadette Phiri, at Tullyvarraga, Shannon, on June 13 EWSe

He was also charged with steal- ing a jeep at Ballymore Road, Naas, County Kildare, last Thursday, June 12.

At Saturday morning’s court sit- ting, Inspector Tom Kennedy sought to remand the accused in custody.

“Mr Darcy was found in Shannon yesterday evening with a stolen jeep. He was charged with that and bailed to court next Thursday. Very shortly after his release, he went to the town

centre in Shannon and is alleged to have assaulted a lady in her car,” said Inspector Kennedy.

Defending solicitor Daragh Has- sett said his client would be pleading guilty to stealing the vehicle. How- ever he said the assault allegation would be contested.

“Mr Darcy will say he merely asked someone for a light,” he said.

Seeking bail, Mr Hassett said, “He is certainly not shying away from the Ot Neon

Judge Joseph Mangan remanded the accused in custody, to re-appear in court later this week.