Seán Quinn Jr to get out of jail for appeal bid

Seán Quinn Jr is to be allowed out of jail to attend his Supreme Court appeal next Tuesday and Wednesday against imprisonment for contempt of court orders.

Barrister Brian O’Moore, SC, counsel for Mr Quinn Jr, told the three-judge Supreme Court yesterday that the IBRC, formerly Anglo Irish Bank, had no objection to Mr Quinn Jr’s attendance at the hearing.

Mr O’Moore said he was making an application for the production by the Mountjoy Prison authorities of Mr Quinn Jr at the appeal against the contempt of court finding and imprisonment by Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne on Jul 20.

Chief Justice Susan Denham, who sat with Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman and Mr Justice Frank Clarke, said since there was no objection to the court granting the application, the court felt it appropriate that Mr Quinn Jr be allowed to attend.

Mr Quinn Jr, son of bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn Sr, was jailed for what was described as “outrageous” contempt of orders by the High Court restraining a multi-million euro asset-stripping scheme.

Judge Dunne had found that Seán Quinn Sr, his son and nephew, Peter Darragh Quinn, had failed to adequately comply with a series of orders requiring the men to stop stripping assets from the Quinn family’s International Property Group (IPG).

IBRC had sought the orders on the back of claims made by the bank that the family attempted to put assets beyond its reach. IBRC claimed it was owed €2.8bn in loans made to various Quinn companies.

Seán Quinn Jr was jailed for three months on Jul 20 and would not have completed his sentence until Oct 20 at which time Judge Dunne would have to be satisfied he had or was prepared to purge his contempt to avoid further imprisonment.

Peter Darragh Quinn, nephew of Seán Quinn Sr did not attend the Jul 20 hearing and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He remains at large.

Seán Quinn Sr is appealing the contempt of court findings against him but is not seeking priority for his appeal.

The Quinns claim they are not liable for €2.35bn of loans made to the Quinn companies because they claim the loans had been unlawfully advanced to them by Anglo Irish Bank to support its share price.