Trio charged over €17k ESB cable damage and theft
Samuel Gheorghe, aged 19, along with brothers Daniel, aged 23, and Sorin Deageac, aged 22, who all share the same address at Cedar Park, in Leixlip, Co Kildare, were brought before Judge Michael Walsh at Dublin District Court yesterday.
The three are Romanian. They are charged with theft of €2,000 worth of electrical cable and causing €15,300 worth of criminal damage to electrical cable, at Boston Common, Boston Hill, Rathangan, Co Kildare between August 4 and August 5 last. They were arrested on Wednesday by officers from the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.
Det Garda Conor O’Sullivan told Judge Walsh the three men made no reply when the charges were put to them at Leixlip Garda station. The garda said he had concerns the defendants were flight risks and would not turn up in court if bail were granted.
Det Garda O’Sullivan said he had no record of the date Mr Gheorghe came into the country and the man has not provided his travel documentation. However, he agreed with defence solicitor John O’Doherty that Mr Gheorghe has given his address. Det Garda O’Sullivan said he had concerns that Daniel Deageac, who came to Ireland two months ago, would not answer the charges but he agreed the 23-year-old has handed over his travel documentation.
The court heard the three have family living in Ireland. Relatives came to the hearing with €500 to stand bail and gardaí know where all three have been living.
Objecting to bail, the garda cited the seriousness of the alleged offence. He said it was alleged “a large number of wires were cut from an electrical pylon”. They were live wires, he said, adding that after they were allegedly removed from the pylon they were gathered in a field where the men were apprehended.
The court heard the offences can carry a maximum 10-year sentence. However, the three have not yet entered pleas and gardaí need to obtain directions from the DPP.
Judge Walsh granted bail with conditions including curfews and orders to sign on daily at their local garda station. He also told them they must provide gardaí with a contact phone number.
The judge set Mr Gheorghe’s bail in his own bond of €2,000 of which he must lodge €750; the Deageac brothers’ bail was set in their own bonds of €1,000 each and they must both lodge €500.
All three men must each have independent sureties approved in the sum of €3,000 of which €1,000 must be lodged in court before bail can be taken up. They were granted free legal aid and remanded in custody with consent to bail to appear at Cloverhill District Court next Wednesday.
Two other men who were also arrested as part of the investigation were released without charge.
