Judge refuses costs claim for O’Mahoney’s Anglo trials

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

A judge refused an insurer’s application to recover the costs of two trials involving former Anglo Irish Bank official Tiarnan O’Mahoney, after hearing that the insurer had covered his legal expenses. O’Mahoney had been acquitted by direction of the trial judge in 2017 on charges relating to alleged efforts to falsify bank records and defraud the Revenue Commissioners.

The insurer’s application followed O’Mahoney’s successful appeal against his original conviction and a retrial on remaining charges. His counsel said he had spent eight months in prison before the conviction was overturned and argued the insurer was seeking to recover what it had paid under a policy connected to his employment. The prosecution noted that the Court of Appeal had awarded O’Mahoney costs for his appeal but had made no order on the original trial costs.

Judge Martin Nolan said the insurer was entitled to bring the application, but he was satisfied the prosecution had acted appropriately and O’Mahoney had engaged appropriately with the proceedings. He found no financial distress to the applicant and nothing extraordinary about the circumstances, and refused the requested costs.