Judge Conal Gibbons told a defendant in Ballyhaunis District Court this week that he found his story completely unbelievable before he sentenced him to nine months detention. John Reardon, 93 Kilfenora Road, Kimmage, Dublin 12, and James Doyle, 14 Dervish Road, Kimmage, Dublin 12, were both in court after gardaí found them in a stolen car in a petrol station forecourt outside Ballyhaunis on March 30 this year. The car in question was a 2005 Audi A4 which had been stolen in Dublin on March 3, 2011 and had a false 2007 number plate.
Reardon told the court that he had purchased the car for €11,000 a few weeks earlier after spotting it on the Done Deal website. He said he bought it from a man from Offaly when he met him near the City West shopping centre. He said that he had bought it for his girlfriend using money he had inherited from his late grandfather and other money he had made from buying and selling cars.
He told the court the pair were in Ballyhaunis that night because he was going to meet a man about swapping the Audi for a BMW, along with some cash to change the BMW to an Irish registration as it had a British one. The court heard that the gardaí had been given information from the owner of the BMW about this proposed deal. On the night in question an ordinary Garda checkpoint had been set up at Devlis, Ballyhaunis, which was operated by Garda James Mangan and two other gardaí. While this checkpoint was in operation Garda Mangan saw the car come towards them and then dramatically pull into a filling station forecourt without any indication and park in a darkened area of the forecourt. When the gardaí followed the car into the station, they found Doyle standing beside the driver’s side and Reardon at the passenger’s side. Neither man had any identification on him and after being questioned at the scene they were arrested and brought to Claremorris Garda Station.
In his evidence to the court Doyle said he was at home that evening when Reardon called him and asked him to drive the Audi to Mayo, as Reardon was unable to do so because he was banned from driving at the time. Doyle told the court he met Reardon at his girlfriend’s house and the pair drove off. He told the court he had no idea the car was stolen and was only doing his friend a favour.
In his evidence Reardon explained how he bought the car after seeing it online, he met a man at City West and after looking over the car and having a friend who was with him do a test drive he paid €11,000 cash on the spot after some negotiating. He told the court he did not know that the car had been stolen and had false plates. When asked if he had receipt for the sale, Reardon said that he signed the back of the log book and the other man said he would send it off. When asked if he had a phone number for this man, he told the court it was deleted from his phone.
After the car was examined in the station the serial number was found, and when searched on the Garda Pulse System it turned out that the car had been stolen and had false number plates put on it. Garda Mangan also told the court that when he looked on the Done Deal website he found a similar car on the website with the same number plate, it was still on sale on the website by a motor dealer. Examination by gardaí also found that there was a fake tax disc on the car, that there was no insurance on the car, and that Doyle’s own policy did not cover him.
Judge Conal Gibbons told the court that he found the whole stor unbelievable, before he convicted Reardon for handling stolen property and sentenced him to nine months detention. He also convicted and fined him €100 for the use of a false instrument (tax disc ). Judge Gibbons convicted and fined Doyle €300 for no insurance and disqualified him from driving for one year. For unauthorised taking of an MPV he sentenced him to six months in prison. Both men had recognisance fixed and sureties approved in court on foot of an appeal to the Circuit Court.
