Caravan seized in Tubber was ‘stolen in Germany’

TWO applications were made to Tubbercurry District Court seeking the return of a caravan which was seized by An Garda Síochána who believe it had been stolen in Germany.

Charlie Ward and Theresa Ward of Bay 2, The Halting Site, Tubbercurry, made applications on April 26, 2017 for the caravan’s return under the Police Property Act.

Details of the application were outlined at Tubbercurry District Court, where it was heard that the validity of the search warrant of the halting site was an issue and was involved in judicial proceedings.

The court heard during a search of the halting site on October 22, 2016, while gardaí were looking for firearms, Detective Garda Peter Cawley observed the chassis number of a caravan which led him to become suspicious and the caravan was then seized.

The owner of the caravan, Charlie Ward, was arrested and questioned, and following this, a second party attended the station with documentation for the caravan.

Det Garda Cawley told the court that Interpol and the National Stolen Vehicle Unit had been in communication with An Garda Síochána in relation to a stolen Fendt caravan in Cologne, Germany.

A Fendt Bianca caravan was reported stolen in Germany by a Mr Hans George on May 25 th, 2016.

Following an examination by the National Stolen Vehicle Unit, an opinion was reached that one number and one letter of the chassis number had been altered.

Under cross examination, Det Garda Cawley was asked if he noted a change in the chassis sequence and the detective said though he was not trained in this field, he noticed there seemed to be a ‘discrepency’ with the other numbers.

The court was told the detective provided the numbers to Interpol and they did not believe the numbers were correct.

Pressed on how he saw the chassis number of the vehicle, Det Garda Cawley said he was searching underneath the caravan while looking for firearms.

Marc Klemm of KFT Ltd, the German insurer of the caravan belonging to Mr Hans George, told the court that Mr George had claimed from his insurance company for the theft of the vehicle and recieved compensation in July 2016.

Mr Klemm told the court that he had recieved information two years ago that the vehicle was found in Ireland.

Judge Kevin Kilrane said the case required much more investigation before it could be finalised and suggested a number of issues had to be addressed.

These included details of the initial warrant, that Mr Klemm was to inspect the caravan, professional photos of the caravan and an expert opinion on whether the caravan is that which was stolen in Germany.

The matter was put back to February 27 th next.