Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson and former Sinn Féin MLA Daithí McKay cleared in Nama misconduct trial
Jamie Bryson
and former
Sinn Féin
MLA Daithí McKay, have been cleared at Belfast Crown Court of charges relating to misconduct in public office.
Mr Bryson (35), from Rosepark, Donaghadee, Co Down, and co-accused Thomas O'Hara (41), from Lisnahunshin Road, Cullybackey, Co Antrim, were found not guilty of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.
The charges related to a Stormont finance committee hearing that examined the sale of the
National Asset Management Agency's
(Nama) Northern Ireland assets in 2015.
Mr McKay (43), from Loughan Road, Dunnamanagh, Co Tyrone – who was chairman of the
Stormont
finance committee at the time – was found not guilty of misconduct in public office.
Daithi McKay outside Belfast Crown Court on Thursday. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Mr Bryson and Mr McKay said there were questions for the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) to answer over why the prosecution was brought.
Trial judge Gordon Kerr KC said he believed Mr Bryson had lied while giving evidence in the case, but said he was not involved in a criminal conspiracy.
The long-running trial related to Mr Bryson's 2015 appearance before the committee, chaired by Mr McKay, which was investigating the sale of Nama's Northern Ireland assets to US investment fund Cerberus for £1.2 billion.
The criminal inquiry opened after the publication of leaked Twitter messages between Mr Bryson, Mr McKay and the account of Mr O'Hara, who at the time was a Sinn Féin activist in north Co Antrim. Mr McKay quit as an MLA within hours of the messages being published in August 2016.
Thomas O'Hara outside Belfast Crown Court on Thursday. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Giving evidence to the committee in 2015, Mr Bryson used Assembly privilege to name former DUP leader Peter Robinson as a beneficiary of the sale. The then-first minister strongly rejected any suggestion he benefited from the deal. All other parties involved in the transaction also denied wrongdoing.
Delivering his judgment in the non-jury trial on Thursday, Judge Kerr said: 'Despite his lies in court, I am sure that Mr Bryson was at all times communicating with Mr McKay.
'I am sure that the communications were designed to give Mr Bryson the best advice and guidance to maximise his chances of giving evidence.
'My analysis of the messages do not show any occasion where Mr McKay undertook to say or do anything outside his duties as chairman to ensure Mr Bryson's evidence would be in open session.'
Clearing Mr Bryson, the judge said the evidence did not establish there had been a criminal conspiracy between him and Mr McKay. 'In the absence of an agreement, the conspiracy charge must fail.'
Turning to Mr McKay, the judge said there was 'no doubt he deliberately misled the committee to ease the way for Mr Bryson's presentation'.
The judge pointed out the Assembly had its own code of conduct and said there was 'no precedent for a prosecution in these circumstances'.
'I do not consider it my role to expand the offence,' the judge added.
He said the evidence against Mr O'Hara 'fell well short' of anything which would convince him of his guilt.
Asked outside the court about Judge Kerr's view that he had lied during his evidence, Mr Bryson said: 'Absolutely not, I told the truth about all of my evidence.
'I absolutely didn't; the fact is this, no crime, I am innocent, that is the end of the matter.'
He added: 'To drag us through the gutters for 10 years and to top that off with a seven-week trial raises massive questions for the Public Prosecution Service.'
Mr McKay's lawyer, Michael Madden, said his client had been vindicated by the judgment.
'Daithí McKay has already paid a heavy price for the decision of the PPS to prosecute this case. He was placed in a legal pressure cooker for 10 years and has had to endure a seven-week trial.' – PA
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Shop stewards being targeted in companies opposed to union recognition, Ictu conference hears
The targeting of workers who serve as shop stewards in companies that do not want to recognise trade unions remains common, according to research presented at an Irish Congress of Trade Unions' (Ictu) conference in Belfast. In many cases, the survey overseen by Prof Niall Cullinane of Queen's University Belfast found, the mental health of those involved suffers. Almost half of respondents suggested the stress involved impacts sleep, causes a sense of burnout and makes it difficult to relax outside of work. Prof Cullinane said there were commonly accusations of hypocrisy on the part of employers who often argued workers had no need for representation by trade unions when they often employed consultants, lawyers or trade organisations to advise them and act on their behalf. 'There is no other area of business where you would have any form of contract formulated under duress but it somehow seems to be okay for employments relations to be conducted under duress,' he said. READ MORE Ictu campaigns officer Paul Gavan said 89 TDs elected in November's general election, including Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke, had signed a pledge during the campaign committing to support legislation that would provide for a right to collective bargaining and representation. He said it was time for those politicians to act on that promise. 'We have the numbers in the Dáil, we just need to hold those politicians to account,' he said as Ictu announced a petition to call for action on the issue. Meanwhile, Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha has been elected as the new president of Ictu. She succeeds Justin McCamphill of British and Irish teachers' union, the NASUWT. Ms Ní Sheaghdha, who has been Ictu's vice-president for the last three years, formally took up the role on Thursday, the final day of the organisation's biennial conference in Belfast. 'At a time of grave global uncertainty, Irish workers will need their trade unions now more than ever,' she said. 'As a trade union movement, we need to be clear that we will not accept the erosion and dilution of workers' rights. This includes the denial of a living wage, paid sick leave and flexible working arrangements, particularly as we face the looming threat of tariffs and other economic shocks.' Kevin Callinan of Fórsa, Siptu's Joe Cunningham and Kieran Chrisie of the ASTI were also elected to positions on Ictu's officer board or executive. The conference, attended by about 600 trade unionists from across the island, heard that Irish workers need to take action to support Palestinians because the Government and EU have failed on the issue. The conference backed a wide-ranging motion that included a call on the British and Irish governments to impose sanctions on Israel and act to stop the transfer of weapons to the country. It also called on Ictu to promote more workplace support for Palestine and its people, with speakers highlighting the impact of the Dunnes strikers' action in support of democracy in South Africa nearly 40 years ago. Sue Pentel, a member of Unison and Jews for Palestine, Ireland, said Israel had sought to hide behind accusations of anti-Semitism when faced with criticism of its actions in Palestine. However, she said it was not acting for Jews and that criticising the genocide it was carrying out was not anti-Semitic. There was repeated criticism of the British government's decision to criminalise the group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation after it daubed RAF planes with paint. The Irish Government was criticised for allowing arms to move through the country's airspace and the role of the Central Bank in facilitating the sale of Israeli bonds.
The Journal
4 hours ago
- The Journal
Jamie Bryson and Daithí McKay cleared in Northern Ireland Nama misconduct trial
THREE MEN, INCLUDING loyalist activist Jamie Bryson and former Sinn Féin MLA Daithí McKay, have been cleared at Belfast Crown Court of charges relating to misconduct in public office. Bryson, 35, from Rosepark in Donaghadee, and co-accused Thomas O'Hara, 41, from Lisnahunshin Road in Cullybackey, were found not guilty of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office. The charges had related to a Stormont committee hearing that examined the sale of the National Asset Management Agency's (Nama) Northern Ireland assets in 2015. McKay, 43, from Loughan Road in Dunnamanagh – who was chairman of the finance committee at the time – was found not guilty of misconduct in public office. Bryson and McKay said there are now questions for the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) over why the prosecution was brought. The PPS has said the available evidence had indicated it was in the public interest to prosecute. Trial judge Gordon Kerr KC said he believed Bryson had lied while giving evidence in the case, but said he was not involved in a criminal conspiracy. The long-running Nama trial had related to Bryson's 2015 appearance before the Stormont committee, chaired by McKay, which was investigating the sale of Nama's Northern Ireland assets to a US investment fund. The criminal probe was launched after the publication of leaked Twitter messages between Bryson, McKay and the account of O'Hara, who at the time was a Sinn Fein activist in north Antrim. McKay quit as an MLA within hours of the Twitter messages being published in August 2016. The Stormont Finance Committee inquiry was set up in 2015 amid political controversy over the multimillion-pound sale of Nama's property portfolio. Advertisement Nama, the so-called bad bank created by the Irish government to deal with the toxic loans of bailed-out lenders during the economic crash, sold its 800 Northern Ireland-linked properties to investment fund Cerberus for £1.2 billion. Giving evidence to the committee in 2015, Bryson used Assembly privilege to name former DUP leader Peter Robinson as a beneficiary of the sale. The then-first minister of Northern Ireland strongly rejected any suggestion he benefited from the deal. All other parties involved in the transaction also denied wrongdoing. Delivering his judgment in the non-jury trial today, the judge said: 'Despite his lies in court, I am sure that Bryson was at all times communicating with McKay. 'I am sure that the communications were designed to give Bryson the best advice and guidance to maximise his chances of giving evidence. 'My analysis of the messages do not show any occasion where McKay undertook to say or do anything outside his duties as chairman to ensure Bryson's evidence would be in open session. 'Clearing Bryson, the judge said the evidence did not establish there had been a criminal conspiracy between him and McKay. He said: 'In the absence of an agreement, the conspiracy charge must fail.' Turning to McKay, the judge said there was 'no doubt he deliberately misled the committee to ease the way for Bryson's presentation'. The judge pointed out the Assembly had its own code of conduct and said there was 'no precedent for a prosecution in these circumstances'. Clearing McKay, he added: 'I do not consider it my role to expand the offence.' The judge said the evidence against O'Hara 'fell well short' of anything which would convince him of his guilt.
Irish Times
7 hours ago
- Irish Times
Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson and former Sinn Féin MLA Daithí McKay cleared in Nama misconduct trial
Three men, including loyalist activist Jamie Bryson and former Sinn Féin MLA Daithí McKay, have been cleared at Belfast Crown Court of charges relating to misconduct in public office. Mr Bryson (35), from Rosepark, Donaghadee, Co Down, and co-accused Thomas O'Hara (41), from Lisnahunshin Road, Cullybackey, Co Antrim, were found not guilty of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office. The charges related to a Stormont finance committee hearing that examined the sale of the National Asset Management Agency's (Nama) Northern Ireland assets in 2015. Mr McKay (43), from Loughan Road, Dunnamanagh, Co Tyrone – who was chairman of the Stormont finance committee at the time – was found not guilty of misconduct in public office. Daithi McKay outside Belfast Crown Court on Thursday. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire Mr Bryson and Mr McKay said there were questions for the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) to answer over why the prosecution was brought. Trial judge Gordon Kerr KC said he believed Mr Bryson had lied while giving evidence in the case, but said he was not involved in a criminal conspiracy. The long-running trial related to Mr Bryson's 2015 appearance before the committee, chaired by Mr McKay, which was investigating the sale of Nama's Northern Ireland assets to US investment fund Cerberus for £1.2 billion. The criminal inquiry opened after the publication of leaked Twitter messages between Mr Bryson, Mr McKay and the account of Mr O'Hara, who at the time was a Sinn Féin activist in north Co Antrim. Mr McKay quit as an MLA within hours of the messages being published in August 2016. Thomas O'Hara outside Belfast Crown Court on Thursday. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire Giving evidence to the committee in 2015, Mr Bryson used Assembly privilege to name former DUP leader Peter Robinson as a beneficiary of the sale. The then-first minister strongly rejected any suggestion he benefited from the deal. All other parties involved in the transaction also denied wrongdoing. Delivering his judgment in the non-jury trial on Thursday, Judge Kerr said: 'Despite his lies in court, I am sure that Mr Bryson was at all times communicating with Mr McKay. 'I am sure that the communications were designed to give Mr Bryson the best advice and guidance to maximise his chances of giving evidence. 'My analysis of the messages do not show any occasion where Mr McKay undertook to say or do anything outside his duties as chairman to ensure Mr Bryson's evidence would be in open session.' Clearing Mr Bryson, the judge said the evidence did not establish there had been a criminal conspiracy between him and Mr McKay. 'In the absence of an agreement, the conspiracy charge must fail.' Turning to Mr McKay, the judge said there was 'no doubt he deliberately misled the committee to ease the way for Mr Bryson's presentation'. The judge pointed out the Assembly had its own code of conduct and said there was 'no precedent for a prosecution in these circumstances'. 'I do not consider it my role to expand the offence,' the judge added. He said the evidence against Mr O'Hara 'fell well short' of anything which would convince him of his guilt. Asked outside the court about Judge Kerr's view that he had lied during his evidence, Mr Bryson said: 'Absolutely not, I told the truth about all of my evidence. 'I absolutely didn't; the fact is this, no crime, I am innocent, that is the end of the matter.' He added: 'To drag us through the gutters for 10 years and to top that off with a seven-week trial raises massive questions for the Public Prosecution Service.' Mr McKay's lawyer, Michael Madden, said his client had been vindicated by the judgment. 'Daithí McKay has already paid a heavy price for the decision of the PPS to prosecute this case. He was placed in a legal pressure cooker for 10 years and has had to endure a seven-week trial.' – PA
