Anonymity of Lunney attacker extended

The Special Criminal Court has extended an order preserving the anonymity of the criminal known as YZ who inflicted most of businessman Kevin Lunney’s serious injuries during his kidnap ordeal.

The order was due to expire at midnight on December 13 but the man’s lawyers successfully applied for an extension.

Michael O’Higgins SC told Mr Justice Tony Hunt that the extra time was needed to allow solicitors time to file papers to the High Court.

Sean Guerin SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said that YZ should be named “in the normal way”.

Mr Justice Hunt agreed to extend the order until Monday, December 20, when the man and his two co-accused are due to be sentenced for false imprisonment and intentionally causing harm to Mr Lunney at a yard at Drumbrade, Ballinagh, on September 17, 2019.

The trial earlier this year heard that Mr Lunney, a director of Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH), was dragged from his vehicle near his Fermanagh home before YZ approached, held a Stanley knife to Mr Lunney’s face, and told him to get into the boot of his Audi A4.

YZ drove with his two accomplices to a horse trailer in a remote farmyard in Cavan where they stripped Mr Lunney to his boxer shorts, doused him in bleach, beat him, shattered his shin bone, sliced his face with a Stanley knife and carved the letters QIH into his chest. During the ordeal his attackers repeatedly told Mr Lunney to resign from QIH.

Delivering the court’s verdict last month, Mr Justice Hunt said that YZ was “heavily involved in these crimes before, during and after”. He said the court was satisfied that YZ was “responsible for inflicting most of Mr Lunney’s serious injuries”.

YZ has multiple previous convictions including one for helping to dispose of a body following a murder.