This article is from page 12 of the 2008-05-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
THEFT of property is particularly prevalent in the Clare Garda Divi- sion and often goes undetected, a court heard last week.
The revelation came in the case of two men who admitted stealing €7,000 worth of wire cable from En- nis Electrical, Quin Road, Ennis, on May 9, last year.
Martin Mongan (21), of Balach Boy Halting Site, Quin Road, Ennis, and Bernard Mongan (20), of Considine Road, Cloughleigh, admitted the of- Kieren
Inspector Michael Gallagher told
Ennis District Court that the two ac- cused and another man made away with the wire cable.
He said that Martin Mongan was driving the truck. As they were leav- ing the premises they were stopped by an employee at around 2pm.
“The two defendants admitted full responsibility. They exonerated a third person who was with them,” he said. The property was recovered.
Inspector Gallagher said, “This is a very serious crime, very prevalent in this division. It often goes unde- tected.”
Solicitor Daragh Hassett, for Ber- nard Mongan, said, “My client
thought the wire was surplus to the requirements of the shop owner. I have no doubt the guards don’t be- lieve that.”
Solicitor Tara Godfrey (below), who represented Martin Mongan, said, “It was not the crime of the cen- tury. It was in the middle of the day. My client was looking for scrap cop- per. We don’t want to make a huge is- sue out of this but my client did get a belt in the face. He got some element of punishment there and then.”
The court was told that Martin Mongan has several previous convic- tions.
Judge Tim Lucey said, “The two
cases are very similar, but in the case of Bernard Mongan, he doesn’t have the previous convictions Martin Mongan has.”
Referring to Martin Mongan, he said, ““What he has done was deliber- ate, conscious. He knows you can’t take things without permission. He chanced it. He was caught. The prop- erty was recovered but it won’t stop him getting a jail sentence.”
He handed Bernard Mongan a three month detention sentence and suspended it for a year. He sentenced Martin Mongan to three months in jail and fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.