Sallins Mail Train Robbery: Calls Renewed For Inquiry Into Alleged Garda Torture To Extract Confessions

Tuesday, 22 April 2025 11:38

By Martin Osborne

The original robbery, involving over IR£200,000 stolen from a mail train, was one of Ireland’s most infamous heists.

A man wrongly convicted in the 1976 Sallins mail train robbery has accused the Irish Government of avoiding a public inquiry to conceal what he claims was a state-sanctioned policy of torture used to allegedly extract false confessions.

Osgur Breatnach, then a 25-year-old journalist and political activist, was arrested alongside five others.

According to an Indo Daily podcast, he says he was repeatedly beaten and psychologically abused by a group of gardaí known as “The Heavy Gang” to force a confession linking him to the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), a left-wing political group.

The original robbery, involving over IR£200,000 stolen from a mail train, was one of Ireland’s most infamous heists.

The line was blown up, forcing the train to stop.

No physical evidence tied Breatnach to the crime, and a key witness later admitted her signed identification was written by gardaí.

The Special Criminal Court ultimately upheld coerced statements as valid, despite acknowledging Breatnach was unlawfully detained and denied legal counsel.

His conviction was later overturned, but he insists justice has not been served.

Breatnach continues to demand an independent inquiry into the alleged use of torture to allegedly extract false confessions.

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