Spanish judge bails ex-IRA man Hardy

FORMER IRA man Leonard Hardy, who was arrested in Spain late in December accused of money laundering, has been freed from jail after depositing a €250,000 bail bond.

Hardy, 54, was detained along with wife Donna Maguire, 57, at a hotel in Lanzarote. They were accused of laundering the proceeds of tobacco and alcohol smuggling by buying and selling properties in Spain.

Hardy was remanded in prison on New Year’s Eve after a court hearing on suspicion of contraband, money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Hardy, who received a jail sentence in 2006 over his role in the failed IRA bombing of a British Army base in Germany, was prohibited from leaving Spain.