Man took car, then valeted it

SOLICITOR TOLD HE HAS ‘STRANGEST OF CLIENTS’ BY JUDGE IN THE CASE

THE owner of a car that was taken without his consent was presumably delighted on the double on being reunited with the vehicle – to find it had been polished, shined and hoovered by the man who took it.

The unusual details of the case led the district judge hearing it to remark to the solicitor defending ‘you have the strangest of clients’.

The case came before Thursday’s sitting of Listowel District Court when Joey Costello, 8 Dirha Cottages, Listowel, pleaded guilty to a charge of ‘unlawfully taking possession of a car without the consent of the owner’ contrary to section 112 of the Road Traffic Act.

The incident occured on September 27 last, gardaí told the Court. At 5.15pm on the date, gardaí received a report of a car having been taken from a carpark at the rear of William Street in Listowel. The owner had parked the car at 2pm, but couldn’t find it anywhere on returning later that evening.

Gardaí said they later found the car outside Mr Costello’s house in Dirha and that he had the car keys in his pocket. He admitted taking it and was arrested.

In outlining the circumstances of the case, Solicitor Pádraig O’Connell began by informing the court that his client had suffered a seizure at the lunchtime break of Thursday’s sitting, indicative of medical difficulties he suffers from.

Mr O’Connell said Mr Costello ‘took a shine to the car’ when he saw it in the car-park.

“There was no damage done,” he explained. In fact: “He polished it, shone it and hoovered it as if he was the owner,” Mr O’Connell said, also suggesting that his client may have deluded himself on the matter that day.

“Mr O’Connell, you have the strangest of clients!” Judge O’Connor said and he adjourneuntil December 1, 2017 by which time Mr Costello has to pay €500.

“We’ll take it from there,” Judge O’Connor concluded.