James Flynn’s car theft conspiracy conviction overturned

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

The Court of Appeal overturned James Flynn’s conviction for conspiring to steal the getaway car used in the Lordship Credit Union robbery. The proceedings were reported on 10 March 2025.

Flynn had originally been charged with a wider conspiracy to steal cars at various locations in the North East and with participation in the robbery at Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, Co Louth. The robbery took place on 25 January 2013, when Aaron Brady shot and killed Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe.

The Special Criminal Court acquitted Flynn of both original charges. It found that the evidence did not prove the prosecution case that he was one of the men directly involved in the robbery. The court amended the indictment and found him guilty of conspiring to steal a Volkswagen Passat from a property in Clogherhead, Co Louth, in January 2013.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt sentenced Flynn to eight years’ imprisonment in December 2023. The Court of Appeal later found that amending the indictment after the trial, without consulting either legal team, breached Flynn’s right to constitutional natural justice. Delivering the judgment, Ms Justice Tara Burns said the amendment denied him the opportunity to make legal arguments or plead to the new charge.

Having quashed the conviction, the Court of Appeal did not consider Flynn’s other appeal arguments. The parties were due to address the court on 18 March 2025 about whether he should face a retrial.