This article is from page 16 of the 2009-05-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
TWO youths, are, between them, fac- ing 51 charges in relation to a spate of crime in east Clare and south Galway that culminated in a major search involving two dozen gardai.
One of the two 1s facing 25 charges and the other is charged with 26 al- leged offences, arising out of a series of incidents last Thursday week, April 30.
Among the charges being brought include unauthorised taking of cars in Cratloe and Gort; thefts in Sixmi- lebridge; criminal damage in Sixmi- lebridge, Quin and Gort; handling stolen property in Cratloe; trespass in Meelick and burglary in Quin.
Ennis District Court heard on Fri- day that the 17-year-old youth re- plied, “Nothing to say to any of the charges,” after he was cautioned.
His co-accused, aged 15, replied to nine of the charges, including, “I didn’t damage no door,’ “No, I didn’t burn no car,” “No, I didn’t take any car,’ and “No, why are you giving me charges when I wasn’t even caught with anything?” He did not make any reply to the other charges.
Solicitor Tara Godfrey, who repre- sented the 17-year-old, said she un- derstood the State was in a position
to deal with the case in the district court and her client “may take a cer- tain course”.
Ted McCarthy, solicitor for the 15- year-old boy, said his client was con- testing the matters.
Garda Michael McGreal outlined details of the allegations. He said it would be alleged that a car was sto- len in Limerick and driven to Gort, where the first car was burnt and an- other one stolen. That car was then driven to Quin. He said it would be alleged that the accused burgled a shop in Quin and stole another vehi- cle in the village. He said they then travelled to Sixmilebridge, where power tools were stolen from a build- ing site. A chemist’s shop was bro- ken into in Sixmilebridge and money was Stolen.
‘They drove through a garda check- point and abandoned the vehicle and travelled on foot,” he said.
He said the 17-year-old youth was arrested in Meelick some time lat- er, after an extensive search lasting more than three hours.
After hearing details of the allega- tions, Judge Joseph Mangan declined jurisdiction in the cases of both ac- cused, who are from Limerick.
Inspector Michael Gallagher said gardai were objecting to bail for the
duo. Referring to the 17-year-old, Gda McGreal said he was on station bail from Limerick when these al- leged offences were committed. He said that a large amount of serious charges have been brought against the accused, who, he said, failed to appear in court in Limerick on one occasion in 2005.
“There was an extensive search car- ried out and a considerable distance was travelled by the accused, who was attempting to evade justice,” he SP AKOE
“A lot of Garda members were involved. The area had to be sur- rounded. It took some hours, over a 10-mile distance,” he said.
In objecting to bail for the 15-year- old, Garda Sean O Murcht said this was based on the seriousness of the charges, allied to the nature of evi- dence against the accused.
‘Before his arrest he fled the scene and drove a stolen van at two gardai,” he said.
The search, he added, involved eight patrol cars, two patrol vans and the regional support unit from Lim- erick. Up to 25 gardai were involved and the incident crossed between two Garda divisions.
In seeking bail for her client, Ms Godfrey said it was likely that it
would take two or three months to complete the book of evidence. However, Judge Joseph Mangan re- fused bail for the two and remanded them in custody until later this week.
The 15-year-old has been remanded to St Michael’s Institution and the 17-year-old has been remanded to St Patrick’s Institution.