James Flynn to face retrial over conspiracy to burgle

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

James Flynn will face a retrial on a conspiracy to burgle charge at the Special Criminal Court, following a Supreme Court order reported on 16 October 2026. The charge concerns a plot to steal a Volkswagen Passat in Clogherhead, Co Louth, for use in a later credit union robbery.

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a retrial could proceed on the amended charge relating to the Passat, but not on the wider conspiracy charge. It held that the Court of Appeal was wrong to find the amended charge had no legal effect.

Flynn was sentenced to eight years in December 2023 after the Special Criminal Court found him guilty of the Passat conspiracy, while acquitting him of participating in the robbery. The Court of Appeal later overturned that conviction and ordered a retrial. It found that amending the indictment after the trial without consulting either legal team had breached Flynn’s right to natural justice. The Supreme Court has now directed a retrial on the amended charge.