This article is from page 16 of the 2011-06-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
A DUBLIN man has appeared in court in connection with an alleged burglary that took place in Sixmilebridge last year.
Simon Gentles (26) with a previous address at 23 Casement Grove, Finglas, Dublin, appeared at Ennis Circuit Court on Thursday.
However, the court was told that the accused no longer lives at this address. It is alleged that Mr Gentles committed a burglary at Ardkyle, Sixmilebridge on January 7 (2010). Mr Gentles is also charged with possession of a firearm, to wit a medallist over and under shotgun.
Counsel for Gentles, Michael Collins BL, told the court that his client had been forced to leave his home in Dublin because he had “received a threat on his life.” As a result, Mr Collins explained, his client had since been on the move from “place to place”.
Mr Collins described his client’s ongoing attempts to supply Gardaí with an address as a “work in progress” due to his present situation.
He told the court that Gardaí are satisfied that the threat against Mr Gentles is serious.
Detective Garda, Kevin O’Hagan, told the court that he agreed with Mr Collins’ summation of events. He said the only outstanding matter was for the accused to provide gardaí with an address and for that address to be deemed acceptable by gardaí.
Referring to the accused’s current situation, Judge Donagh McDonagh said: “Not to put too fine a point on it, he’s going into hiding”.
Judge McDonagh added that gardai had advised against Mr Gentles signing on at a local garda station.
Mr Gentles supplied a written ad- dress to Detective O’Hagan and Judge McDonagh. Detective O’Hagan said he accepted the address.
Judge McDonagh re-admitted the accused to bail on the condition that he resides at the given address. He also ordered that if Mr Gentles intends to change address, he must inform Detective O’Hagan of the change in address, in writing, prior to moving. The accused is due to appear in court again at a later date.