FitzPatrick may apply for free legal aid

Former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick may apply for free legal aid for his upcoming trial on charges of failing to disclose loans from another bank, a court has heard.

Mr FitzPatrick, aged 65, of Whitshed Rd, Greystones, Co Wicklow, is charged under Section 197 of the Companies Act 1990.

He faces 12 counts of failing to disclose to auditors Ernst & Young the true value of loans worth at least €139m given to him, or people connected to him, by Irish Nationwide Building Society from 2002 to 2007 while he was an officer of the bank.

Mr FitzPatrick’s solicitor, Michael Staines, told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that his client will not be able to fund his upcoming case unless he is awarded his costs from a previous trial in which he was acquitted on all charges.

Last June, Judge Martin Nolan rejected an application for costs for that trial and yesterday Mr Staines told Judge Mary Ellen Ring that leave has been granted for a judicial review of this decision.

Mr Staines said that the judicial review could take up to a year and he said, in the meantime, his client cannot afford to take on barristers.