Seánie’s free to go and he’s already thrown the party
AS he was officially confirmed a free man at the final day of his trial yesterday, Seán FitzPatrick revealed that he had already held a celebration to mark his acquittal.
The jury in the 127-day long trial concerning multi-million-euro loans yesterday acquitted the former Anglo Irish Bank chairman of all charges, on the direction of Judge John Aylmer.
The judge told the jurors at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that he had found that there was insufficient evidence in the case for them to be allowed to deliberate about the verdict.
And Dominic McGinn SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the court that it was not pursuing six outstanding counts relating to alleged false accounting by Mr FitzPatrick between the years 2002 and 2007.
Mr McGinn said the counts had been severed from an initial suite of charges facing Mr FitzPatrick two years ago, and were to have been dealt with at a separate trial.
He told Judge Aylmer: ‘I have been instructed to enter a nolle prosequi. There is nothing else facing Mr FitzPatrick.’
Defence counsel Bernard Condon SC said his client, who had not entered the dock but had watched the proceedings from the public gallery with his daughter Sarah, should be discharged.
Judge Aylmer addressed Mr FitzPatrick, and said: ‘The prosecution has confirmed that there is nothing else against you. You are now free to go. Thank you very much for your attendance.’ Mr FitzPatrick replied: ‘Thank you.’ He smiled but did not make any further comment to reporters as he left court, other than to confirm that he had celebrated his acquittal the night before.
Mr FitzPatrick – who served as both chairman and chief executive of Anglo until his resignation in 2008 – faced 27 charges of misleading the bank’s auditors, and of furnishing false information of multi-million-euro loans to him and people connected to him, between 2002 and 2007.
He had pleaded not guilty to all charges, and had faced two trials on the issue – the first having collapsed in May 2015, shortly after the lead investigator for the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, Kevin O’Connell, admitted to having shredded evidence in the case.
Judge Aylmer told the jurors yesterday that he had made the decision that, as a matter of law, the prosecution had not established a sufficient case to go to a jury.
He said he had issued a lengthy ruling on Tuesday in which he had decided to direct the jury to acquit Mr FitzPatrick on all counts.
‘The thrust of what I have decided is that there was an investigation into the charges against Seán FitzPatrick which fell short of that an accused person is entitled to,’ he told them.
He added the shortcomings of the investigation had been highlighted by defence. ‘The prosecution had not proved the case to a standard which allowed me to let the charges go before you to decide the matter,’ the judge said.