Defence counsel make closes speeches in trial of former Anglo executives

Jessica Magee

Brendan Grehan SC has begun his closing speech to the jury in defence of Pat Whelan, former Head of Lending in Anglo Irish Bank.

He told the jury that there is nobody in this country that has not been affected by the collapse in the banks.

He referred to wage cuts, the loss of increments and the things that “really get people angry” like the couple of hours less of a Special Needs Assistant for a child or help for a parent at home.

But he insisted that the case was not about the collapse of the banks or about seeing the three men in the dock as a way of “getting vengeance”.

Mr Grehan said someone told him the other day that a spectator had come into the court and, having watched the proceedings, said: “Give them a fair trial and then hang them.”

“You are not spectators, ladies and gentlemen. It is vital that you divorce yourself from that kind of thinking,” cautioned Mr Grehan.

“You are not here to satisfy the baying for blood of the mob.”

Mr Grehan said the case was about “a provision of company law, which has been on our statute books since 1963”.

He said that's what the jury must focus on, devoid of the pressures that may come on them from outside the courtroom, was to produce “a certain verdict”.

He said great care had been taken while choosing the jury to ensure that they were persons who could be impartial.

Earlier today, Mr Paul O’Higgins finished the prosecution closing speech. He asked the jurors whether they had struggled in school in their Irish exams, like he did.

He said he had found the “módh coinníollach” or conditional tense, particularly awkward.

But, he said, Anglo's former director of finance William McAteer must have been a “genius” at the “módh coinníollach”.

He said when Mr McAteer was asked whether he had any responsibility for the bank's Credit Committee, he replied: “It would have been part of my functions.”

When asked whether he had signed off on the loans, Mr McAteer replied: “I could have signed off on them but I could also have been on holidays.”

Counsel suggested Mr McAteer was phrasing his responses in this way so he wouldn’t have to commit to an answer, which could later be shown to be a lie.

Moving onto the role played by Mr FitzPatrick, counsel said that as chairman of Anglo he had a duty to make sure the deal was legal.

He said Mr FitzPatrick seemed to think that it would be unreasonable to expect him to be concerned about the details of the deal because he was a busy person who sat on so many other’s company boards.

Mr O'Higgins also asked the jury whether it was credible that Sean FitzPatrick, as former chairman, did not know the names of the so-called Maple Ten, who agreed to buy shares.

“You would have thought it would be a subject of great interest of how someone could rustle up ten great investors to buy shares, when months of effort at home and internationally had failed to turn up any,” he said.

Yesterday, Mr O'Higgins told the jurors: “Nobody is obliged to be a director of a company. It is a job that is carried out for rewards and it is optional for the director to take it up or not.”

He said it's a privilege that comes with responsibilities and one of these is to carry out the duty to ensure the requirements of the Companies Act are complied with.

“That doesn't mean that every time something goes wrong with the company you can be prosecuted.

“But it does mean you can't be passive. You're meant to be something of an expert in relation to the provisions of Company Law. One of your obligations is to ensure the requirements of the Companies Act are complied with,” he said.

He said that the criminal provisions of the Companies Act are ones that any director should know about because they are accepting office as directors.

“If you choose to be a director you choose to make yourself subject to the regime that applies to directors,” he said.

Mr O’Higgins has now finished the prosecution closing speech. Also yesterday, the jury in the trial were ordered to find two of the bust bank’s former chiefs, Sean FitzPatrick and Pat Whelan, not guilty on some charges relating to loans to the Quinn family.

Judge Martin Nolan told the jury: “For good reason I have directed not guilty verdicts. It will all be made apparent to you in due course.”

Mr Whelan and former Anglo Director of Finance William McAteer also still face these charges as well as six charges relating to the loaning of money to the Quinn family.’

The trial, which centres on allegedly fraudulent loans to the Quinn family, and others, so they could buy shares in the bank in order to boost the share price - is in its tenth week and all three have denied the charges.