Woman fears for life in Revenue raid on Lowry home

The jury in the trial of Tipperary TD Michael Lowry has heard a woman who was in his house when it was raided by Revenue feared she was going to be killed by burglars.

The court was also told that a small sheaf of documents had been recovered from the premises which were not of evidential value.

Deputy Lowry has pleaded not guilty to four charges of filing incorrect tax returns, one charge in relation to failing to keep a proper set of accounts and denies a further four counts in relation to his company Garuda Ltd.

Giving evidence at Mr Lowry’s trial today Shelia Hanley an inspector of taxes said Revenue Officers searched the TD’s home on July 23rd 2013 on foot of a search warrant .

Responding to questioning on the reaction of a woman who was in the house at the time Ms Hanley said it was obviously an unwelcome surprise, that she did think we were burglars until she heard a woman’s voice and was sufficiently upset to need a glass of water.

However Ms Hanley rejected a suggestion that the woman was crying and saying “please don’t kill me” but accepted she was startled.

The inspector of taxes agreed that Mr Lowry’s clothes were searched but couldn’t confirm if his underpants had been, although she acknowledged that her colleagues would have searched all drawers, including ones in the bedrooms.

She agreed that she and her colleagues were allowed into the gated premises by a tradesman who had been servicing the boiler but added she was not under any obligation to wait for Mr Lowry as the warrant entitled her to enter the house and use force if necessary.

Ms Hanley also accepted that an officer was probably searching through the cutlery drawer, adding “People keep documents in drawers”.

She acknowledged that a “small sheaf” of documents had been recovered from the house and accepted they were “not of evidential value”.

The trial continues before Judge Martin Nolan and a jury of eight men and three women.