A 23-year-old man held in relation to the 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 today and was granted €150,000 bail, comprising €50,000 of his own and two sureties of €50,000 each.
Opposing the bail application, Det Sgt Ken Donnellan of the organised crime unit said he objected due to the severity of the crime, with over €5 million in bank money still missing, and his belief that Mr O'Brien may abscond and would not stand trial.
Det Sgt Donnellan said it was his belief Mr O'Brien had "ready and easy" access to money to overcome any obstacles to travelling, and that gardaí had concerns over two independent sureties of €15,000 that were put to the court on his behalf.
The garda also told the court Mr O'Brien had three previous bench warrants.
However, counsel for Mr O'Brien said strict conditions would apply to any bail conditions applied and that his client had roots in inner-city Dublin. He also asked that Judge Patrick Clyne should take into account that any trial date would be unlikely to be earlier than February or March 2010.
Mr O'Brien's counsel told the court a cousin to the defendant had proposed that he stay at her property in Temple Place, Dublin 1.
In approving bail, Judge Clyne said he was disregarding the accused's previous bench warrants, which were all extinct, and hearsay relating to the case.
Setting out bail conditions, the judge said the court would require a non-cash surety of €50,000 from Mr O'Brien in addition to two other independent sureties of the same amount.
In addition, the judge said, Mr O'Brien must surrender his driver's licence, passport, and other travel documentation; sign on to Fitzgibbon Garda Station twice 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 the defendant's application for free legal aid and direction from the DPP was deferred to March 24rd.
Mr O'Brien has been charged with handling stolen cash with a value of €1.74 million
A second man being held over the robbery - Mark Donoghue (39), Killeen, Leggan, Co Longford - also briefly appeared briefly in court and was remanded in custody until March 24th. Neither man made any comment.
