Three men, including loyalist activist Jamie Bryson and former Sinn Féin assembly member Daithí McKay, have been acquitted of all charges in a long-running trial concerning alleged misconduct related to Northern Ireland’s dealings with the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).
The case revolved around a Stormont committee hearing from 2015, where Bryson gave evidence about alleged improprieties in how Nama handled property loans in Northern Ireland, News.Az reports, citing BBC.
The hearing was chaired at the time by McKay, then a sitting Sinn Féin MLA.
Bryson, 35, from Donaghadee, had been charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office. McKay, 43, from Dunnamanagh, faced charges of misconduct in public office, while former Sinn Féin party worker Thomas O'Hara, from Cullybackey, was also accused of conspiracy.
During Thursday’s verdict at Belfast Crown Court, Judge Gordon Kerr KC stated that although he believed Bryson had “lied on oath” during part of his courtroom testimony, he found no evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Bryson and McKay. Both men were therefore acquitted.
O’Hara also maintained his innocence throughout the four-week trial and was cleared of all charges.
The judge’s ruling comes a decade after the committee session that triggered the investigation, closing a politically sensitive chapter in the broader scrutiny of Nama’s operations in Northern Ireland.
