Bailed Lynn back with his family after five years... to await his trial
MICHAEL Lynn was released on bail last night pending his trial for allegedly stealing millions from the banks.
He was picked up from Cloverhill Prison by his wife Brid Murphy shortly before 6pm.
The 49-year-old ex-solicitor, who fled the country in 2007 and later started a new life in Brazil, was granted bail in principle a week ago. Appeal judges were told his sister-in-law would stump up a €100,000 bond.
But his release couldn’t be approved for procedural reasons so he spent a week in Cloverhill.
Yesterday morning, he was brought back to court where a judge approved the bail arrangements – but still he was not released. Instead, he had to sign the bail bond back at the prison, so he was brought back there for a number of hours.
He was eventually reunited with his wife and four children for the first time in nearly five years. He had been imprisoned since 2013 in Brazil when federal police arrested him, acting on behalf of Interpol. He was extradited to Ireland in March.
Last week, three appeal judges seemed to accept that there is ‘almost nowhere he can flee to’, and granted him bail in principle, on his sister-in-law Lilian Lynn’s bond.
That independent surety was approved yesterday by Judge Melanie Greally, at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Ms Lynn appeared in the court where she said €100,000 would be frozen in her account until after the trial.
Judge Greally warned her that her money would be ‘very much at peril’ if her brother-in-law breached any of his strict bail conditions. When asked if she was happy to assume that risk, Ms Lynn replied that she was.
Prosecutor Cathleen Noctor BL said the State was satisfied with the ‘bona fides’ of the bank account.
Mr Lynn also lodged his own
Bail bond ‘very much at peril’
bond of €100. Gardaí had always objected to him being granted bail but Mr Lynn insisted he had ‘never been a fugitive’.
From Mayo and formerly of Sandymount, Dublin 4, he will now live in Maynooth, Co. Kildare where he will have to obey strict rules including a curfew between 9pm and 6am. He must sign on daily at a Garda station and carry a phone that gardaí can contact him on 24/7. This will be ‘closely monitored’, defence counsel Karl Monahan said.
Mr Lynn was brought back to Ireland in March of this year after a bilateral extradition agreement between Ireland and Brazil was put in place.
Last week, Mr Lynn’s barrister Michael O’Higgins SC argued that there is now ‘no hiding place’ for people in his client’s position. Referring to one of history’s most famous train robbers, Mr O’Higgins added: ‘It shows the Ronnie Biggs route is no longer workable.’ Mr Lynn will stand trial in January 2020 on 21 theft charges involving almost €30million – at least €9million of which he’s accused of taking from financial institutions.
He was struck off the roll of solicitors in May 2008.