Thieves ‘rumbled’ by neighbour

PAIR SENTENCED TO THREE MONTHS EACH FOR TARBERT TRAILER THEFT

THE vigilance of a neighbour helped catch two thieves who stole a trailer from a yard in Tarbert.

The neighbour was woken by a car outside the window of their house reversing into a laneway to attach a trailer.

Thinking the actions strange they contacted the gardaí who met the same car with the trailer coming against them.

The car attempted to turn around to evade gardaí and eventually jack-knifed. When gardaí arrived to the vehicle the two men were sitting in the back seat of the car.

John McInerney of 4 Clos Odhrain, Toomevara, Tipperary and Ian Lockyer of 47 Lacey Avenue, Templemore, Tipperary were before Listowel District court for stealing property namely a trailer valued at €2,000. Both pleaded guilty.

Their solicitor Pat Mann, said that they had been visiting the area, consumed alcohol and saw the unlocked gate and took the trailer.

“It was very foolish. They were rumbled by the neighbour. It was an opportunistic crime,” he said.

The court heard that Mr McEnerney, who has 35 previous convictions, and Mr Lockyer, who has 47 previous convictions and is serving a sentence, were both on bail at the time. Both men have children the court was told and Mr Mann asked that the court not “over penalise” them.

Judge David Waters said that he was considering a suspended sentence until he heard they were on bail when they committed the offence. He imposed three month custodial sentences on both men.