ESB bill led to sheep stealing incidents

November 1987

A threat by the ESB to disconnect the power supply to the mobile home which housed his wife and young baby because of an unpaid £450 bill was one of the pressures which forced a young man to turn to sheep stealing to accumulate money, Enniscorthy District Court was told on Wednesday.

Before the court were neighbours [NAMES AND ADDRESSES WITHELD], aged 25 years and 21 years respectively.

Both pleaded guilty to six counts of stealing and receiving three ewes and 14 lambs, total value £652.83, from farms in the Ferns and Oulart areas between 20th August and 17th September last.

Justice Sean Magee said he had pencilled in terms of 3 months imprisonment in the case of each defendant, but he agreed to a request from defending solicitor, Mr Tony Ensor, to adjourn the case until 25th November to see if the defendants were suitable candidates for Community Service instead.

Justice Magee said he would ‘reluctantly’ agree to Mr Ensor’s request because it was the first conviction for either defendant and because all compensation had already been repaid.

Outlining the case, Supt. Vincent Smyth said the two men had stolen the sheep from fields near their home. They had taken a couple of lambs initially and sold them to a meat factory, and then repeated the process.

Mr Ensor, defending, said the incident arose because of the desperate need of [DEFENDANT 1] for cash. He owed £450 to the ESB and they had threatened to cut off the electricity supply to his mobile home. [DEFENDANT 2] had gotten involved because he was also in need of money, having been out of work for some time.

Mr Ensor said it had to stand to both defendants that they had already paid all compensation. He said that to do this, they had to rely on family and friends, and all had stood by them.

Justice Magree said he had already pencilled in 3 month sentences. While he debated if defendants were suitable for a Community Service Order, they should first understand that it required a set amount of work, without pay, as compensation to the community for the crimes they had committed.

He adjourned sentence in the case until 25th November.