TWO brothers who stole two copper cylinders in West Cork were each fined €1,000 at Bantry District Court.
Judge James McNulty also imposed a 90-day sentence on both Michael O’Brien (36) and Denis O’Brien (24), of Northview, Scarnagh in Gorey, Wexford, but he suspended the sentence for two years.
As well as requiring them to be of good behaviour, the judge instructed them ‘not to visit any town or place in the district court area of West Cork over the next two years.’
The accused first appeared before Bantry Court in February, but the case was adjourned to allow them time to come up with the money for their fines.
At about 2.30pm on November 28th 2022, Sgt Trish O’Sullivan said the men entered an unoccupied building at Reenmeen East in Glengarriff and stole the tanks.
The sergeant said gardaí identified their white van, and the suspects were arrested, cautioned and interviewed.
They made admissions, saying they were looking for scrap metal, according to the sergeant, who confirmed that both men were co-operative and had subsequently paid the owner €300 in compensation.
The court was told that Denis O’Brien has nine previous convictions for road traffic offences, whilst his brother Michael has four previous for traffic violations.
In their defence, solicitor Flor Murphy said they had come to West Cork to check out a car they had seen on Done Deal. In the end, he said, they didn’t buy it because there was something wrong with the gearbox.
Mr Murphy said his clients don’t work for a living and would be ‘on the lookout for scrap’. Both are married and both apologised to the investigating officer, Gda Batt Duggan, and to the victim of their crime.
‘They are thieving in West Cork,’ said Judge McNulty. ‘They were a long way from home, trespassing on private property.
‘They took property away with them until they were detected and traced. They will have to pay for their offending.’
