Bernard Daly’s conspiracy conviction quashed on appeal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Bernard Daly’s convictions for conspiracy to defraud Revenue and falsify records were quashed by the Court of Appeal.

The appeal was heard by Mr Justice George Birmingham, sitting with Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan and Mr Justice John Edwards. The court found the charges were out of time and said evidence against Daly was “thin” and “tenuous”; it also found the trial judge had erred when ruling on document admissibility without first hearing oral evidence.

The court did not order a retrial. Daly had previously been sentenced to two years in prison by Judge Patrick McCartan at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, and walked free from court on Tuesday morning. His solicitor, Julie Burke, said he had consistently maintained his innocence. The proceedings were reported on 15 March 2016.