Man held over kidnap and €7.6m raid gets bail

A 23-YEAR-OLD man held in relation to a kidnapping and the €7.6 million robbery at Bank of Ireland on Dublin’s College Green last month has been granted bail.

Darren O’Brien, of O’Brien Hall, Gardiner Street, Dublin, appeared before Cloverhill District Court yesterday and was given €150,000 bail on condition that it comprised €50,000 of his own funds and two independent sureties of €50,000 each.

Opposing bail, Det Sgt Ken Donnellan of the organised crime unit told the court he objected due to the crime’s severity and his belief that Mr O’Brien may abscond. Det Sgt Donnellan said it was his belief Mr O’Brien had “ready and easy” access to money to flee bail, and that gardaí had concerns over two independent sureties of €15,000 that were put to the court.

The garda also told the court Mr O’Brien had three previous bench warrants against him.

Counsel for Mr O’Brien said strict conditions would apply to any bail conditions. He asked that Judge Patrick Clyne take into account that any trial would be unlikely before February or March 2010, and told the court a cousin of the defendant had proposed that the defendant stay at her property in Dublin if bailed.

In approving bail, Judge Clyne said he was disregarding the three previous bench warrants – which were all extinct – and hearsay relating to the case. He said the court would require a surety of €50,000 from Mr O’Brien, and two independent sureties of the same amount. Mr O’Brien must also surrender his driver’s licence and passport; sign on at Fitzgibbon Street Garda station twice a day; adhere to a curfew from 11pm to 7am, and not move from his cousin’s apartment without giving gardaí notice. A hearing to consider his application for free legal aid and direction from the DPP was deferred to March 24th.

A second man being held over the robbery – Mark Donoghue (39), Killeen, Leggan, Co Longford was remanded in custody until March 24th. Neither man made any comment in court.