Suspended sentence for man who tried to sell stolen car to undercover gardaí

A Donegal man has been given an 18-month suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after he tried to sell a stolen car to undercover gardaí in order to pay off a drug debt.

Sean McVeigh (aged 24) of Glencar Park, Letterkenny, met with undercover gardaí at the Arc Bar car park in Liffey Valley, in Dublin, in order to sell them the car after Sergeant Trevor Dooley arranged a meeting to buy it.

Sgt Dooley said that, five days after his initial arrest, he met with McVeigh in Monaghan Garda station after the accused called him and requested a meeting.

He said McVeigh had cuts and bruises to his head at the time and he made a "full and frank statement" admitting that he had met with a drug dealer in Donegal on April 13, 2006.

He said he owed €500 to this man and he was threatened and told if he took the car to Dublin his debt would be cleared.

Sgt Dooley told Mr Richard Humphreys BL, prosecuting, that he spoke to gardaí in Donegal including the PSNI and he was satisfied that McVeigh was not "the true author of the crime" but said he was rather "a gilly".

He said McVeigh had been given a mobile phone and the fake vehicle licensing certificate that day in Bridgeend in Donegal and told where to meet the potential customer.

McVeigh pleaded guilty to dishonestly receiving or arranging to receive a stolen Volkswagen Golf at Clondalkin, on April 13, 2006, while knowing it to be stolen or being reckless as to whether it was stolen.

He had previous convictions for road traffic, possession of drugs and public order offences.

Sgt Dooley agreed with defence counsel Mr Ronan Kennedy BL, that the gardaí were satisfied that McVeigh had nothing to do with the initial theft of the car.

He also accepted that, although the sale of the vehicle was well organized, McVeigh was not involved at this level and he had simply agreed to take the car to Dublin to pay off the debt.

Sgt Dooley agreed that McVeigh had voluntarily arranged to meet him in Monaghan following his initial arrest.

He accepted that McVeigh’s cuts and bruises were most likely caused by "a good hiding he got due to the confiscation of the vehicle".

Judge Katherine Delahunt said that a "well-orchestrated plan had been put in place to dispose of this car" but added that she was satisfied that McVeigh was at the lower end of this crime and that he had got involved "somewhat under duress due to his drug debts".

She accepted that he regretted his involvement and, once confronted by the gardaí, had done what he could "to make amends".

She suspended the entire sentence on condition that McVeigh keep the peace and be of good behaviour, pay €2,000 to the owner of the car the estimated loss to him, remain drug-free and complete a drug rehabilitation programme.

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Sgt Dooley told Mr Humphreys that he was investigating stolen vehicles at the time and suspected that a Volkswagen Golf advertised in Autotrader magazine was stolen.

He called the number supplied and arranged to meet the "purported owner of the car" a man called Damien Crossen, eights day later.

Sgt Dooley said that McVeigh, who drove the vehicle into the car park, identified himself as Mr Crossen.

Sgt Dooley examined the car and established it was stolen and had been taken during the course of a house burglary in Naas a few months previously. A counterfeit vehicle licensing certificate and five mobile phones, two of which belonged to one of McVeigh’s passengers, were confiscated.

McVeigh was arrested and made certain admissions in relating to handling the stolen car.

Sgt Dooley said that the owner of the car, Michael Ryan, had been at a financial loss of €2,000.

Mr Kennedy said that his client deeply regretted his involvement in the crime and asked Judge Delahunt to accept that it was "an extraordinary step for him to go back to the gardai and make admissions when there was no inducement or threat for him to do so".

"He had a guilty conscience and he wanted to come clean," Mr Kennedy said.

He said his client had "dabbled" in cocaine but he has been attending a treatment centre to deal with his addiction.

"He was a young man who made a serious mistake but has now set himself off on the right path to rehabilitation," Mr Kennedy said.