‘Thief and rascal’ who stole from neighbours avoids jail
AN ELDERLY Caltragh Heights resident has been spared jail after he eventually apologised for “gratuitous” thefts from his neighbours, at Sligo District Court.
“He is dishonest, he is a thief and he should go to jail,” said Judge Kevin Kilrane of Gerald Forde, 78, of Caltragh Heights, Sligo.
The judge added that the only thing that would save Forde from 11 months in jail was to tell the truth.
Forde pleaded guilty to making a false report to gardaí, tending to show that an offence had been committed on January 8, 2019.
He also pleaded guilty to a charge that on a date unknown between December 15, 2019, and May 4, 2020, at Ardagh, Riverstown, handled stolen property, a middle gate of an Ifor Wiliams Trailer, property of Seamus McGowan, valued at €220.
He pleaded guilty to an identical charge in respect of the front gate of a cattle crush, property of Paul McDermott valued at €300 on the same dates and location.
Charges of driving with no NCT and no driving licence at Tully, Sligo, on September 3, 2019, failing to remain at the scene of an accident, and dangerous driving were all struck out. He pleaded guilty to drunk driving at the same venue and location.
The court heard he had a urine alcohol reading of 154 over 100.
The defendant had previous convictions for no insurance and drunk driving and had previously been banned from driving for three years.
Defence solicitor Tom MacSharry said the defendant had made an early plea, was currently banned and these were very serious matters.
Sergeant Derek Butler told the court that gardaí got a report on September 6 last year that the middle gate of an Ifor Williams trailer and the front gate of a cattle crush had gone missing from land at Ardagh, Riverstown. They were found on Forde’s neighbouring land.
The items were seized and identified by the owners.
The defendant was arrested on September 7 and charged on November 26. Sergeant Therese Duignan said Forde claimed the items were his property and had been freshly painted green. He told the sergeant that he had bought them in Omagh and had no receipts and could not name the person he had bought them from. The defendant produced a receipt of sorts. The sergeant checked this out and found nothing corroborative and was of the view that he had made it up. The court heard that both items were side by side.
The defendant did not previously have an Ifor Williams trailer and the gate of the cattle crush was useless, the court heard.
The defendant made no admissions. Joe Barnes, counsel for the defendant, on the handling charges said his client accepted he was not the owner of the items taken. The defendant was 78 and an unusual type of character, and he found him to be co-operative, not the worst and not a master criminal.
There were no visible signs of wealth and he had a pension, which was his entire income.
When asked to comment, Sergeant Duignan said the defendant “had a house in Riverstown and two houses in Sligo”. In further evi- dence, she told the court that a van was blocking the road at Caltragh, on three wheels with one wheel ground down on January 6, 2019. Garda Kelly got the van removed and called to the address of the registered owner.
On January 7, Forde came to the station and wanted his van returned, claiming it was stolen.
But Garda Kelly got dashcam footage from the van which placed Forde at the location of the abandoned. Forde denied it was him in the footage. Sergeant Duignan told the court that the injured parties in the handling matter were Paul McDermott, who is from Riverstown but lives in Crossmolina, Co. Mayo. He had leased the land to Seamus McGowan and the land was beside Forde’s holding.
Mr Barnes said the defendant was of “limited means” had pleaded guilty to all matters. He asked the court to take into account the defendant’s personal circumstances and his age.
He had been given a first dose of vaccination and was suffering from some related symptoms and the counsel asked the court to be as lenient as possible.
The defendant knew he was at risk. Judge Kevin Kilrane said he was concerned about the “gratuitous nature” of the offences.
The defendant was charged with handling only, but it was not the most obvious case where larceny did not take place.
The defendant had land beside the injured parties. “To steal the middle side gate of a trailer makes no sense but the loss to the owner is huge.”
The judge said the defendant was trying to cover his tracks by painting the items green which made no sense as an Ifor Williams trailer was metallic and never green.
The judge said he utterly rejected the defendant’s claim that he had bought the items in Omagh.
This was compounded by making a false report to gardaí about his vehicle, wasting garda time.
The judge said he did not know what Forde wanted with the stolen items. He added unless the defendant had some explanation or had a “mental malady” otherwise it was pure gratuitous handling of stolen goods and anyone who does that it is out of malice rather than anything else.
The judge said Forde was before the court before when his dog had savaged sheep but all he was concerned about was the return of the body of his dog. He said: “Apart from being a thief, your client is a rascal as well.” Mr Barnes said there was no sign of mental illness and he did not agree that there was badness as such in the defendant.
Judge Kilrane said the only thing he wanted to hear from the defendant was an apology.
The judge asked the defendant, who took the stand, if he had any feelings of regret for the farmer whose sheep were damaged or for his neighbours. “Are you sorry?” he asked him. “I am sorry for what happened,” the defendant said.
Judge Kilrane then asked him why he took the items from his neighbours? “I bought them, and I was reckless,” the defendant. “I bought them in Omagh.”
Judge Kilrane warned that if the defendant wanted to avoid 11 months in jail, he must tell the truth.
The case was put back for a third call. When the case resumed, the defendant admitted stealing the Ifor Williams trailer and said he was reckless. When asked why he needed the cattle crush gate he said: “I don’t know. I was reckless in what I done.’ The judge said his victims were his neighbours. He said: “You know how neighbouring farmers trust each other with their property. This is a shocking breach of trust.”
“I am sorry. It will never happen again,” said the defendant.
The judge said his apology had saved him from jail.
“It’s never too late to tell the truth.” The judge said he could only assume that Forde committed the acts in a nasty type of way because he may have a certain bitterness.
“This does happen when people live alone, and they feel that life has not been fair to them and they act in a certain way which they would not do normally.
“It is the best explanation from listening to him that I can put forward.” The defendant repeated his apology. Judge Kilrane ordered that the items be returned to their owners.
He fined the defendant €200 and banned him from driving for four years for the drunk driving charge. The judge imposed three four-month concurrent suspended jail sentences on the two handling charges and the making a false report charge on the defendant’s own bond of €500. This was as long as there were no credible allegations of indictable offences against him in the next two years. “You are a very lucky man that you are not going to jail,” said the judge. He said: “But for your counsel and solicitor, to prison you would go and deservedly so.”