FOUR years to day after he was first convicted of an offence that was later quashed, Zachary Coughlan Ryan was granted bail over the alleged kidnap of the son of a Limerick postmistress.
This Tuesday, Judge Tom O’Donnell granted the 39-year-old bail on a number of strict conditions surrounding his release.
In custody since his arrest in August 2012, Zachary Coughlan Ryan is alleged to have been one of a gang of three who abducted two men from a house in Castletroy in a bid to extort a €500,000 ransom from Limerick postmistress Carol Cusack.
Stephen Cusack, her son, was one of the two men abducted along with a friend Niall Reddan.
They were gagged and bound and taken to a derelict site before one was freed and the other escaped after demands were allegedly made.
Zachary Coughlan Ryan was arrested a few days later on suspicion of his alleged involvement in the heist and has been in custody since August 2012.
He was tried, convicted and four years ago on October 24, 2013, he was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The conviction was later quashed on appeal and a retrial was ordered by the Court of Appeal.
The 39-year-old, after being refused bail in July of this year, conducted his own defence during a three week jury trial.
However after several hours of deliberations, the jury of six men and six women were unable to reach a verdict and remained in disagreement.
In cases where the jury fail to agree a verdict, the Director of Public Prosecutions must be consulted and instructions sought.
This Tuesday, Judge Tom O’Donnell was told that a third trial would be required and subsequently Mr Coughlan Ryan would be seeking bail.
However, the State strongly objected and Judge O’Donnell was to decide.
Detective Garda Michael Lambe attached to Henry Street Garda Station said that the seriousness of the charge and the likely sentence upon conviction would warrant the 39-year-old being refused bail.
The court heard other of a number of concerns from An Garda Siochana as prosecution counsel John O’Sullivan BL reminded the court that the 39-year-old accused would have to be given credit for any time served, should he be convicted at a third trial.
During submissions, defence counsel Erin O’Hagan asked to court to consider the unusual and very unique set of circumstances in the case.
“He has zero bench warrants and last July, Mr Coughlan Ryan was refused bail but he was happy to remain in custody as he wanted to deal with this matter and defend himself. He was patient and waited and then he represented himself. He did that to the best of his ability while being respectful to the court at all times,” Ms O’Hagan said.
“This man has protested his innocence since day one and it didn’t come to him as any surprise that the retrial was ordered.”
The fact that the retrial could not reach a verdict, Ms O’Hagan argued was “no fault of anybody in Mr Coughlan Ryan’s eyes”.
“But he shouldn’t be denied his liberty just because of that,”
Adding that the 39-year-old has “spent an enormous amount of time in custody, he still enjoys the presumption of innocence as a fundamental cornerstone of the judicial system”.
“Does the DPP wish to keep bringing in jurys until they get the verdict they desire? Ms O’Hagan openly asked as she urged the court to grant the accused bail.
After adjourning the matter for a number of hours, Judge O’Donnell said that it was “one of the most difficult decisions for the court given the unique set of circumstances”.
Citing a possible retrial date of February 2018, Judge O’Donnell said that he was of a mind to grant bail to Mr Coughlan Ryan pending a number of strict conditions.
To achieve bail, Zachary Coughlan Ryan must enter into his own bond of €500, have an independent surety approved by the court of €5,000 – the entirety of which is to be lodged to the court.
Other conditions include a strict curfew, to remain at a designated address, surrender his passport and sign on daily at Mayorstone Garda Station.
Zachary Coughlan Ryan must also stay away from alleged injured parties and the extended Reddan and Cusack families.
