The Supreme Court has ordered the retrial of a man accused of conspiring to steal a car that was used days later in a credit union robbery during which Det Garda Adrian Donohoe was shot dead.
James Flynn (35) was previously tried at the Special Criminal Court where he denied a charge of conspiring to burgle cars at various locations in 2012 and 2013. It was alleged that he and others conspired to enter people’s homes to steal the keys to their cars and make off with the vehicles parked outside.
However, following his trial, the three-judge non-jury court found the charge was not proven but amended the indictment to find him guilty of conspiring to steal a Volkswagen Passat from a property in Clogherhead, Co Louth, between January 22nd and 23rd, 2013.
That Passat was used two days later in the robbery at Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, Co Louth, during which Donohoe, a married father of two, was shot dead by Aaron Brady.
Brady (35), of New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, is serving a life sentence with a 40-year minimum, having been found guilty in 2020 of the murder of Donohoe at the Lordship Credit Union.
In December 2023 the Special Criminal Court sentenced Flynn to eight years in prison, but two years later the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction. The court found that the decision to amend the indictment after Flynn’s trial had finished and without consulting the prosecution or defence legal teams was in breach of his right to natural justice.
The Court of Appeal went on to order a retrial on the original indictment for the wider conspiracy, having found the charge as amended by the Special Criminal Court had no “legal effect”.
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Flynn appealed to the Supreme Court opposing any retrial, arguing that the Court of Appeal decision to retry him on the original indictment was in breach of fair procedures.
The Supreme Court, in a unanimous judgment, said the Court of Appeal had erred in finding that the amended charge had “no legal effect”.
Delivering the judgment, Judge Brian O’Moore said it was legally permissible for the Director of Public Prosecutions to proceed with a retrial of Flynn on the amended charge related solely to the conspiracy to steal the Volkswagen Passat, but not for the wider conspiracy.
O’Moore said conspiracy to burgle was a serious charge, adding: “There is a clear public interest in a retrial that would decide the innocence or guilt of Mr Flynn.”
He ordered that Flynn be retried at the Special Criminal Court on the amended indictment of conspiracy to burgle on the dates of January 22nd and 23rd, 2013.