by Andrew Carey
THE son of a murdered Limerick gangland boss surrendered to Gardaí last weekend when he was returned to the Midlands Prison on foot of a Supreme Court ruling that he was not entitled to parole granted by the High Court.
Eddie Ryan Jnr (31) with a previous address at Kileely was released from prison last month after a High Court judge ruled he was entitled to one-third remission on a six-year sentence after he and his 30-year-old brother Kieran ‘Rashers’ Ryan were caught on the outskirts of Limerick City with a high-powered Browning semi-automatic handgun and ammunition.
He was released under Article 40 of the Constitution but this was subsequently appealed by the State to the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Susan Denham, Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman and Mr Justice John MacMenamin heard arguments from lawyers for the State who said that court should order the immediate re-arrest of Mr Ryan. They claimed that Article 40 was an inappropriate way to seek Ryan’s release and that it should have been done, if at all, by way of judicial review.
Eddie Ryan had been convicted and sentenced to six years imprisonment to run from May 26, 2010 following conviction of being in possession of a high-powered pistol and 15 rounds of ammunition in suspicious circumstances.
His solicitor, Ms Sarah Ryan, had applied to the Minister for Justice for one-third remission of the sentence and when this was refused, an application was brought to the High Court on the basis that Eddie Ryan was in unlawful detention.
Chief Justice Denham said that “the Courts must always enquire immediately into the grounds of any person’s detention when called upon to do so.
“The validity of Mr Ryan’s detention under the Order of the Circuit Criminal Court has not been challenged in these proceedings but it is said that the failure to grant him enhanced remission of sentence is itself flawed”, she explained.
It was outlined that Eddie Ryan’s complaint about the procedures leading to the Minister’s decision may be examined by Judicial Review and not under Article 40 and the court ordered the immediate re-arrest of Eddie Ryan jnr.
On Saturday morning last, the 31-year-old presented himself at Mayorstone Garda Station and was returned to the Midlands Prison from where he is due to be released in November.
The Ryan brothers were arrested by members of the armed Garda regional support unit at Ballyneety in 2010 when they were found in posession of a Browning semi-automatic pistol and 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition.
They were apprehended just hours after a rival criminal, Shane Mason, shot another man in the city.
Both are sons of Limerick gang boss Eddie Ryan who was shot dead in the Moose Bar in November 2000.
