THE TRIAL OF former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick today became the longest-running criminal trial in the history of the State.

It is the prosecution’s case that multi-million euro loans taken out by FitzPatrick (68) and his family were “artificially reduced” for a period of two weeks around the bank’s financial end of year statement by short-term loans from other sources, including Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBS).

The jury has been told that the case is about the alleged failure by the bank’s former chairman to disclose the extent of these loans to the bank’s auditors in the years 2002 to 2007. Mr FitzPatrick has denied all charges.

Today the trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court entered its 90th day, making it longer than any other criminal trial ever.

The trial began last September and was due to end by Christmas but was delayed by weeks of legal argument over certain issues.

Last week Judge John Aylmer told the jurors that they should not be embarrassed if they felt tired and needed a break. He told them that the evidence during the trial was at times “tedious”.

Today Bernard Condon SC, defending, finished his cross-examination of Vincent Bergin, a partner with audit firm EY (previously Ernst & Young) who led the audit of Anglo for the years 2005 to 2008.

Mr Condon has told the jury that the statement of Mr Bergin was produced by a process of coaching and “cross-contamination” using processes ruled by the court as “unlawful”.

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Judge Aylmer told the jury that a legal issue had arisen and that it would take nearly two weeks to deal with. He asked the jury to return to court for 13 March to continue hearing evidence.

He also told them that it was no longer the case that the trial would finish by the end of March, as the jury had been previously told. He said it is now estimated the trial will run into April.

The jury forewoman told the judge that members of the jury had commitments and holidays booked from 3 April to 24 April.

Mr FitzPatrick of Whitshed Road, Greystones, Co Wicklow has pleaded not guilty to 27 offences under the 1990 Companies Act. These include 22 charges of making a misleading, false or deceptive statement to auditors and five charges of furnishing false information in the years 2002 to 2007. The trial continues.