New Ross man claims green diesel in jeep’s tank was a ‘set up’

THE mystery of how ‘ green’ agri- diesel ended up in the tank of a New Ross man’s jeep remained unresolved at the District Court in Wexford.

Judge John Cheatle sat late until 8.45 in the evening to hear both sides of the case taken by the Revenue Commissioners against Raymond Kavanagh from Whitemoor, New Ross.

But at the end of a long day, the case was adjourned for legal submissions.

The court heard evidence of how Customs & Excise officers arrived at the home of Raymond and Marie Kavanagh on September 9, 2015.

They came that afternoon with the authority of a warrant signed by a judge looking for illicit cigarettes or alcohol, though nothing of that nature was found.

The man of the house was not at home when they arrived to conduct their search but he turned up after receiving a phone call from his wife.

He was driving a diesel powered Toyota Land Cruiser with a Laois registration.

The officers took the opportunity to ‘dip’ the fuel tank of the jeep and a preliminary test suggested the presence of the green diesel.

A sample sent to a State laboratory in Galway suggested that 8 per cent of the tank contents was out of order.

Prosecuting solicitor Brendan Curran felt that the case was proven and that a conviction was warranted.

However, the defendant – represented by barrister Paul Hutchinson – insisted that he had not knowingly or intentionally put the dodgy fuel in the jeep.

‘ Someone set up my client,’ concluded Mr Hutchinson, stressing that Kavanagh had no previous convictions.

Moreover he had no reason to resort to cheap fuel as he used the Toyota for work purposes and the diesel was paid for by his boss.

The accused produced receipts on the day showing that he filled up regularly at Pump One on the forecourt of Euro Fuels in Waterford, which has since closed.

It emerged in evidence that he had a fuel card provided to him by his long time employer Noel O’Brien for this purpose.

Counsel argued that, in dipping the jeep, the Customs team had exceeded the scope of the powers accorded to them by the warrant.

They could not have found cigarettes or alcoholic drink in the tank of a motor powered vehicle, he pointed out.

This line of argument was disputed by Mr Curran who insisted that Kavanagh had been shown to have kept the wrong sort of diesel in the Land Cruiser and that the court should convict.

Called into the witness box, the accused said he had experienced difficulties in the past with a neighbour over a laneway and wondered whether the neighbour had tipped Revenue off to conduct the search.

Since the closure of Euro Fuels, he now topped up at Hennessy’s instead.

Judge Cheatle looked at the receipts from Euro Fuels and noted that the cost of diesel shown on the paperwork appeared to be right for what he called commercial, full price diesel.

The court felt that the defendant did not intentionally or knowingly put green diesel in the jeep, yet the prosecution continued to insist that a conviction must be recorded.

The matter stands adjourned to October 10 for further legal submissions from both sides.