A Wexford man helped himself to fuel from Sweeney Oil in Clifden and then drove away without paying. This was the scenario outlined to judge Fiona Lydon at Clifden District Court when Ali Ozlali, The Pier, Coolree, Wexford appeared before her.
However, his solicitor, Catherine McDarby, pleaded that her client had simply forgotten to pay for the €77 worth of fuel. He had mental health issues and the medication he took made him forgetful. He was now on illness benefit.
She added that her client was ten years in the country and had no previous convictions. The Court heard that Gardaí stopped the defendant soon after he left the filling station without paying.
Judge Lydon asked whether it had occurred to him once he realised he hadn’t paid to return and do so? She applied the Probation Act on condition that the defendant make a €100 donation to the Connemara Therapy Riding Centre.
