Monday, 11 March 2013
Three in court over shooting of dissident
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/three-in-court-over-shooting-of-dissident-29121348.html
THREE men have appeared before the Special Criminal Court charged in connection with the fatal shooting of dissident republican Peter Butterly in Co Meath last Wednesday.
They are Edward McGrath (31), of Land Dale Lawns, Springfield, Tallaght, Dublin; Dean Evans (22), of Grange Park Rise, Raheny, Dublin; and David Cullen (28), of Brackenwood Ave, Balbriggan, Co Dublin.
All three were charged with the unlawful possession of a pistol and seven rounds of ammunition with intent to endanger life at the car park of The Huntsman Inn and restaurant, Gormanston, Co Meath, on March 6.
Mr Evans and Mr McGrath were also charged with membership of an illegal organisation.
All three were remanded in custody to appear in court again on March 14.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/three-men-charged-in-connection-with-butterly-murder-in-special-sitting-of-court-587460.html
Young boxer awarded less in court after rejecting Injuries Board assessment
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/young-boxer-awarded-less-in-court-after-rejecting-injuries-board-assessment-29122624.html
And when Judge Matthew Deery today awarded him €11,150 damages against the offending motorist’s insurance company, Martin Mongan took another body blow.
The court heard that Mongan, of Canal Drive, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, had already turned down an award of damages assessed by the Injuries Board at €13,445.
Failing to equal or beat the Injuries Board’s assessment in court carried with it a withering punch with regard to the payment of legal costs.
The €2,295 shortfall put Mongan on the ropes on the question of winning a legal costs order against the motorist who had driven into the back of him, Miroslaw Szulta, of Ridgeway Grove, Swords, Co Dublin, where the accident had taken place.Judge Deery said he would make no order for costs which ko’d any hope Mongan had of taking home any of the €11,150 damages awarded to him by the court.
He is now responsible for his own costs and the legal costs of the defendant which will wipe out all of Judge Deery’s award.
Mongan initially was on a winner against his opposition --- Miroslaw Szulta and his insurance company had conceded liability for the crash because the car in which Mr Mongan was a passenger had been rear ended.
Then Szulta’s insurance company agreed to accept an assessment by the Injuries Board. When Mr Mongan refused to accept that assessment the matter had to go before the court for final determination.
Mongan told the court that prior to the rear-ending on 15th December, 2010 he had been in the running to fight for Galway against Wales and later going on to win an Irish vest.
Instead he said he had to give up boxing because of neck and lower back injuries but continued some training as part of his recovery. He said he had taken up coaching for younger boxers at his Ballinasloe Boxing Club.
Judge Deery said Mr Mongan had to stop boxing at the time and had lost an opportunity to go on and fight for Ireland.
CAB gets €600k judgment against IRA man who hid cash in box of Daz
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/cab-gets-600k-judgment-against-ira-man-who-hid-cash-in-box-of-daz-29121349.html
THE Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has secured a judgment for more than €600,000 against a convicted IRA man who was suspected of money laundering after he was found with more than €94,000 in a Daz washing powder box.
Don Bullman, a chef, was found with the money when he was arrested by gardai outside Heuston Station in Dublin in February 2005, and he was subsequently jailed for IRA membership.
The Irish Independent has learned the High Court has now granted a judgment to CAB for in excess of €600,000 for what was described as Revenue debts following an investigation into his affairs.
The court heard that CAB officers carried out an examination of Bullman's tax assessments from 1999/2000 to the end of 2004 and secured a court order to obtain bank details and other financial records.
The bureau's assessment of Bullman's financial position was subsequently affirmed on appeal. The High Court was told CAB had collected some money but significant debts were still outstanding.
Bullman was arrested in 2005 by gardai acting on intelligence that members of the Provisional IRA from the Cork region were involved in the movement of money that was part of the proceeds from a robbery at the Northern Bank in Belfast in December 2004 when £26.5m (€39m) was stolen.
Bullman, of Fernwood Crescent, Leghanamore, Wilton, Cork, was convicted by the Special Criminal Court in February 2007 of membership of the IRA and sentenced to four years' imprisonment.
The court heard evidence from anti-terrorist officers that they had received information that Bullman would be meeting other personnel at Heuston that day with a view to transferring some of the finances, which were part of the robbery.
Bullman was arrested after he met two Derry men in a 4x4 at the station.
When they examined a rucksack found in the back of the jeep, officers found a Daz box containing €94,250 hidden in washing powder. The Daz box contained bundles of euro notes wrapped in clingfilm.
In interviews with gardai, Bullman denied all knowledge of the box and claimed not to have noticed it until gardai asked him to pick it up.
Buddy
Bullman
said he was meeting the two men to discuss travel arrangements to a
Celtic soccer match and referred to one of the men as his "best buddy".
Mr
Justice Paul Butler said the court was satisfied that the Daz box
containing the money was in Bullman's holdall and accepted the evidence
of an assistant commissioner that Bullman was a member of the IRA.
Bullman subsequently lost an appeal against his conviction for IRA membership.
See Also [2009] IECCA 84
http://www.courts.ie/__80256F2B00356A6B.nsf/0/2E8F4E99293A4A6B8025760200589201?Open&Highlight=0,bullman,~language_en~
Mum tried to fool chemists with fake note
http://www.herald.ie/news/courts/mum-tried-to-fool-chemists-with-fake-note-29119936.html
A MUM-of-three went to two pharmacies with forged prescriptions within half an hour in an "amateurish" attempt to get drugs, a court heard.
Rebecca McEnroe (32) tried to use the prescriptions "at the behest" of another person she owed money to.
She left empty handed on both occasions and was arrested for fraud offences.
A judge adjourned the case against her for the preparation of a probation report.
McEnroe, of Cathedral View Walk, Dublin 8, at pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a forged prescription on September 27, 2012.
Garda Shane Behan told Dublin District Court the accused first went to Castle Pharmacy on Aungier Street and handed staff the forged prescription.
This purported to be from St James's Hospital and was for drugs including Diazepam and Zimovane.
She was not given the drugs and a half hour later she went to Castle Pharmacy in Rialto and handed over a prescription for the same amount of drugs.
"On both occasions, the pharmacist became aware of the forgery and she left empty handed," the garda said.
The pharmacists told gardai the prescriptions were "immediately obvious as being false" and "not sophisticated" forgeries, McEnroe's lawyer said.
The accused began smoking heroin at the age of 19 and most of her previous convictions were related to her drug difficulties, her lawyer said.
She had been doing "much better in recent times", and had been in treatment which ended a year ago. However, she relapsed and the offences were related to that.
"It was a very amateurish attempt to get drugs," McEnroe's lawyer said.
"It was done at the behest of an individual she owed money to and in her drug-dependant state, she went along with it."
Judge Michael Walsh adjourned the case to April 30 for a probation report.
Woman in court over €6k house damage
http://www.herald.ie/news/courts/woman-in-court-over-6k-house-damage-29122188.html
A DUBLIN woman has been charged with causing €6,000 worth of damage to a man's house in the west of the city.
Deirdre Harris (31) is alleged to have damaged rooms in the house while trespassing there.
The case against her has been adjourned, after a judge said he needed to hear more details of the allegations before deciding whether it can be heard at District Court level
Harris, of Melrose Grove, Clondalkin, is charged with causing criminal damage to interior rooms of a home at Lindisfarne Park, Bawnogue, also in Clondalkin.
She is also alleged to have entered the same house as a trespasser with intent to commit an offence, on August 1, 2012.
Sgt Mary Doherty told Blanchardstown District Court: "It is alleged that (the accused) entered the house without the consent of the owner and caused a considerable amount of damage."
Judge David McHugh said he needed to hear more evidence to decide whether to accept jurisdiction in the case, or to send it to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
He adjourned the case to March 24.
Thug who kicked pregnant garda avoids jail term
http://www.herald.ie/news/courts/thug-who-kicked-pregnant-garda-avoids-jail-term-29122190.html
A DUBLIN man who kicked a pregnant garda in the stomach while she was placing him in a patrol car has been ordered to complete community service to avoid a prison sentence.
Stephen White (31) had denied the assault, claiming the officer's male colleague had smashed his head off the door of the patrol car and "flung" him into the back seat.
However, a judge found him guilty after a two-day trial.
The matter was before Tallaght District Court for sentencing after a judge ordered a report to see if White was suitable for community service.
Judge John Coughlan ordered White to complete 220 hours' community service in lieu of three months in jail.
White, of Tymonville Road in Tallaght, was previously found guilty of threatening and abusive behaviour, obstructing Detective Garda Michael McGrath and assaulting Garda Jennifer Brogan.
Shouting
Garda McGrath said he stopped White crossing the Tallaght bypass around 8.20pm on September 10, 2012, for the purposes of a drugs search, as White had turned away when he saw gardai and appeared to be fidgeting in his pocket.
Garda McGrath claimed White was immediately aggressive, shouting "f*** off, my da's a garda, take me back to the station".
The court heard White further shouted: "f**k off, you'll f***ing regret this, and "you'll feel my wrath". Garda McGrath said White struggled with him and refused to allow him to put on the handcuffs, and a member of the public came over to help put them on.
Search
Garda Brogan said she was placing White in the back of the patrol car when he sat back and kicked out, hitting her in the stomach.
Garda Brogan said she was four months pregnant at the time and was worried about her unborn child.
In his evidence, White said he asked gardai to bring him to the station for a drugs search as it was embarrassing being searched at the side of the road.
He also claimed Garda McGrath "jumped on him" and smashed his head off the door of the patrol car.
When they arrived at the station, White claimed he was
grabbed by the legs, pulled out of the car and dropped on his back on
the ground.
White had also denied he kicked Garda Brogan, saying he would "never kick a girl".
Electrician caught in raid bagging cocaine
http://www.herald.ie/news/courts/electrician-caught-in-raid-bagging-cocaine-29122189.html
AN electrician who "fell on bad times" was caught in the act of bagging cocaine for sale in his bedroom when gardai raided his home.
Gerard Land (31) was jailed for six months after he admitted a drugs charge following the seizure of more than €2,000 worth of cocaine in the search.
Imposing the sentence, a judge remarked that Land had been "well into" dealing drugs when he was caught.
Land, of Earlsfort Road, Lucan, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to sell or supply on March 7, 2012.
Sgt Mary Doherty told Blanchardstown District Court gardai searched the accused's address and found cocaine worth €2,019 in his bedroom.
They also found weighing scales, bagging equipment and bin liners.
"He was actually caught bagging it", Sgt Doherty said.
The court heard Land was now serving a sentence in the medical unit of Mountjoy Jail, with an earliest release date of January 2014.
He had worked as an electrician in the past, his solicitor Matthew Kenny said.
"He fell on bad times and fell into the company of the wrong sort of people and got involved in this type of criminality", Mr Kenny said.
Land had co-operated fully with the garda investigation, made admissions in relation to the offence and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.
He hoped to go to a treatment centre after his release from jail.
"My observation of the case is that he was well into it", Judge David McHugh said. "The sale and supply of drugs".
He sentenced the defendant to six months imprisonment, concurrent to the sentence Land is already serving.
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