Former Ryanair pilot accused of having €10m cannabis for sale is granted bail

Irish Times

2 days ago

A former Ryanair pilot charged with having an estimated €10 million of cannabis for sale or supply has been granted bail after the Court of Appeal overturned a decision by the High Court.
As a condition of his bail, Brendan O'Mara (62) must surrender his pilot's licence due to a concern he might avoid justice by procuring an aircraft at a private airfield to leave the jurisdiction.
Mr Justice John Edwards said the court did have concerns Mr O'Mara could be a flight risk due to the fact that a short time before being arrested, he arranged to emigrate to the United States. However, the court's concerns were not at a level to deny the accused bail.
Mr O'Mara, of An Tulach, Summerhill, Meelick, Co Clare, is charged with possessing cannabis for sale or supply, at his home address on May 7th this year.
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He was arrested after gardaí and customs officers discovered pallets at his home in Meelick, allegedly containing cannabis weighing an estimated 502kg, with a street value of over €10 million.
He was refused bail at the High Court recently but appealed this decision before the Court of Appeal on Wednesday.
Defence counsel Michael Bowman SC said that Ms Justice Eileen Creedon in the High Court had refused the accused bail, as she ruled the accused was a flight risk due to being a commercial pilot who had access to airfields. Mr Bowman said the evidential basis of that was lacking, as the accused does not have access to any airfield and is not a member of an airfield.
Mr Justice Edwards said that it was still a theoretical possibility that the accused could procure an aircraft, to which Mr Bowman said his client was willing to surrender his pilot's licence, meaning that 'short of stealing an aircraft, he can't get one'.
Mr Bowman went on to say that an independent surety of €150,000 was being offered by the accused's sister, and the accused would also surrender all his documentation.
Counsel for the State, Roisin Lacey SC said that the accused has access to aircraft to remove him from the jurisdiction, with 50 years' experience in that trade meaning he would have a number of contacts.
Ms Lacey said that if he were to leave the jurisdiction, it was not known what access he would have to other aircraft. She also said that the accused had previously made preparations to leave Ireland with his family and begin work in America.
In delivering the court's ruling, Mr Justice Edwards said that the charge against the accused was a very serious one, which carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. He noted that the accused was a commercial pilot by profession, who had worked for Ryanair until recently, so he was used to crossing borders.
'In theory, he could obtain the use of an aircraft at a private airfield and pilot it out of the jurisdiction and use that as the staging post to move further afield and avoid justice,' said Mr Justice Edwards.
He went on to say that what was more concerning was the fact that a short time before the accused was arrested, he had made arrangements to emigrate to the United States.
'It is correct to say that we do have concerns about flight, but not at the level that requires us to deny bail absolutely,' said Mr Justice Edwards.
Bail was granted, with conditions that the accused provide an independent surety of €150,000, as well as his own bond of €70,000, €35,000 of which is to be lodged; he must provide a mobile phone number to gardaí and sign on daily at the garda station; he must not leave the jurisdiction and surrender his passport and all pilot's licences; he must give an undertaking not to attend at any airfield; he must reside at his family home in Co. Clare; he must not apply for any aviation job at any level; he must keep the peace and be of good behaviour; and he must not apply for any travel documentation, nor travel into Northern Ireland.