LAST UPDATE | 21 Dec 2023

A GANG MEMBER who conspired to steal the getaway car that was used in the credit union robbery during which Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe was shot dead has been jailed for eight years.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt at the three-judge Special Criminal Court today said that at the time when James Flynn conspired to steal a Volkswagen Passat from outside a house in Clogherhead, Co Louth he “knew the full purpose of the conspiracy to burgle” and that the conspiracy “encompassed an integral aspect of the robbery” which took place three nights later.

Mr Justice Hunt set a headline sentence of nine years but reduced that to eight after considering the “limited” mitigation including testimonials by members of Flynn’s family.

In September, the Special Criminal Court acquitted James Flynn (32), with an address in Ravensglen, Newry, Co Down of participation in the robbery of €7,000 at Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, Co Louth, on 25 January 2013.

It was during that robbery that Aaron Brady murdered Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe by shooting him once in the head.

Brady is serving a life sentence with a minimum of 40 years for the offence and is awaiting the outcome of an appeal against his conviction.

Flynn fled Ireland shortly after the robbery and had to be extradited from the UK in April 2022 to face trial.

The High Court heard that before his surrender, Flynn was in a position to offer over £1 million in sureties when applying for bail at Westminster Magistrates Court. He holds both a UK and United States passport but not an Irish one.

Sentencing

At today’s sentencing, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said that to measure the gravity of Flynn’s offending the court had to consider the extent of his knowledge of the overall conspiracy.

The court found there was “no doubt that this was not a random burglary” but was targeted at finding a fast car, suitable for use as a getaway vehicle.

Mr Justice Hunt said the facts of the case “justify the inference that he [Flynn] knew the full purpose of the conspiracy to burgle”.

All doubts in that regard, he said, are “put to bed by his continued contact with his co-conspirator, Aaron Brady.”

In particular, the judge noted two visits to the credit union the night before the robbery and earlier on the day of the robbery which were “part of the preparations for the crime”.

He said that the conspiracy “encompassed an integral aspect of the robbery” and the robbery was therefore relevant when passing sentence, “whatever way one looks at the matter”.

He said that the burglary was carried out by an “organised criminal group” and was “part and parcel of the larger picture” involving the credit union robbery which was “in the minds of those who participated in the conspiracy to burgle”.

The judge said the range of sentences available went from zero to 14 years and he placed the gravity of this offence near the middle at nine years.

The most significant mitigating factors of a guilty plea, remorse or assistance to gardaí were not available to Flynn, the judge said, leaving only his lack of previous convictions and personal testimonials.

The judge therefore removed one year from the headline and backdated the sentence to July 15 2021 when Flynn went into custody in the UK pending extradition proceedings.

Judgement

In its judgment regarding Flynn, the Special Criminal Court found that he was an active member of the gang that carried out the robbery and that he was intimately involved with Brady and another man in stealing the Volkswagen Passat that was used as a getaway car.

The court also found that Flynn drove his own BMW to a remote location in south Armagh after the credit union robbery where the Passat was set on fire. Flynn then drove the participants from the area.

Mr Justice Hunt said Flynn was therefore an accessory before and after the robbery.

However, the court was not satisfied that the State had proven its case that Flynn was a direct participant in the robbery and therefore acquitted him of that charge.

The court did convict Flynn of conspiracy to steal the Volkswagen Passat getaway car from outside a house in Clogherhead, Co Louth on 22/23 January 2013.

As part of its case, the prosecution relied on evidence that the Volkswagen Passat was stolen from outside a home in Clogherhead in the early hours of the morning two days before the Lordship robbery.

It was the prosecution case that the same car was used to block the entrance of the Credit Union and that the four raiders in the carpark got into the Volkswagen which was then driven at speed to a remote laneway in South Armagh where it was burned out.

Mr Justice Hunt said the court has “no reason to doubt” that the Passat was stolen from Clogherhead as part of the robbery plan and was the same one used in the robbery and getaway before being set on fire.

The court also found that Flynn conspired with two others to steal the Passat, basing its finding on CCTV footage showing Flynn’s distinctive BMW 5-series with a matt finish wraparound roof acting suspiciously in the early hours on the morning of the theft near to where the Passat was stolen.

The court convicted Flynn of conspiracy to steal the Passat but found that the evidence in relation to the robbery at Lordship did not prove the prosecution case that Flynn was one of the men directly involved.