Judge agrees Filipino fisherman was put working on vehicles in employer's Castletownbere home

A MAN from Castletownbere has been prosecuted for engaging a Filipino fisherman in work without a permit.

Of the five charges brought against David Price (49) of Knockour, Castletownbere, Dermot Conway, solicitor for the defence, said the alleged offence on August 29th could not stand because the fisherman had just arrived in the country on that date.

The solicitor contested the remaining four charges – August 30th and 31st, as well as September 1st and 2nd – saying that his client had been trying to entertain the fisherman until his boat, the Maracestina, which is owned by Fishing Trawlers NI Ltd, and is registered in the UK, arrived into Castletownbere.

State solicitor Jerry Healy argued that David Price had Jeson Gicale, a non-national from the Philippines, in his employment without a permit. Mr Healy said Jeson Gicale, a mechanic, was employed as a deckhand on the boat owned by the accused’s father and uncle. However, later, during a lengthy cross-examination, it was established that David Price had – within the last eight months – acquired a 25% share in the vessel.

The issue came before the court after the fisherman made a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission. Mr Conway asked if – in addition to the charge of working without a permit – a complaint had been made for non-payment of wages, to which the witness for the prosecution said such a complaint wasn’t filed because the vessel was operating under a UK flag.

Evidence was given that the deckhand flew from the Philippines to Belfast where he was met by a man and driven south, arriving in Castletownbere at 2am. The solicitor said this complied with the deckhand having entered into a contract with Fishing Trawlers NI Ltd to take up employment on the British-registered vessel in Castletownbere.

However, Mr Healy said the issue arose because the vessel was still a few days off shore and David Price allegedly employed the deckhand, without a permit, to work on his vehicles and equipment at his home in Castletownbere, which is an offence under the Employment Permits Act.

Adrian O’Keeffe, an inspector with the Workplace Relations Commission, told the court that a complaint was made by the International Transport Workers Federation in June 2022. The deckhand complained that he had been employed through an international agency as a mechanic and that he was picked up at his B&B in Castletownbere by David Price and put to work.

In his evidence, the inspector said the fisherman told him he was given a €50 cash advance to buy food, but this was subsequently recouped from his wages. ‘He said he was collected every morning by David Price and driven to his private residence and carried out mechanical work at his residence in Castletownbere,’ said the inspector.

However, the inspector also acknowledged that when the accused was questioned, David Price said the fisherman had helped him out, but he hadn’t employed him. David Price’s solicitor asked the inspector why it took so long from June 10th 2022, when the complaint was first made, until August 21st 2023, for charges to be issued. The inspector agreed it was a long period of time but he also said it was ‘within time’ for the prosecution to be valid.

It was alleged that David Price collected the accused at 9am on the morning of his arrival and brought him to his home where he put him to work on removing a rusted bumper and painting it. On another day it was alleged that the accused had asked the man to remove rust from a gas tank and replace a fuel filter on his tractor, as well as replacing hydraulic pipes, and working on the gears.

It was alleged by the State that the fisherman was collected at 7am or 8am every day and brought back to his B&B at 7pm or 8pm. Overall, the complaint being made suggested that the man had done between 40 and 50 hours of work and did not receive payment for working those hours.

The fisherman said that on one occasion he was given a sandwich and juice but ‘no meals, only tea’ and that he never entered David Price’s home, just his work buildings.

Jeson Gicale, with the assistance of an interpreter, confirmed that the flights and visas were organised to bring him into Belfast, and then to Castletownbere. He said he was brought to a B&B at 2am and was told his employer, David Price, would collect him the following day.

On the first day, the witness said he was brought to a shop and fitted out with overalls and safety boots before being taken to David Price’s house where he worked on vehicles. On one occasion, the third day, he said he was collected by a Croatian man, who was also a crew member, and together they worked at David Price’s house to remove rust from a tank and then paint it. On the last day, the man said David Price brought him back to his property where he double-checked the work done. On the day the vessel came in, the fisherman said he helped the Croatian mend nets on the quayside while waiting for it to arrive.

Dermot Conway said the employer was Fishing Trawlers NI Ltd and not David Price, but the crewman said when the agency in the Philippines told him about his employment, he was told that David Price was his employer. Mr Conway insisted that Fishing Trawlers NI Ltd were the owners of the boat, not David Price.

He said David Price was not a director, a shareholder, or an employee of that company. However, he did acknowledge that David Price has subsequently acquired a 25% interest in the vessel. The solicitor said the fisherman didn’t arrive in Belfast until August 29th and it was 2am on August 30th that he arrived at the B&B in Castletownbere.

Mr Conway said the man was left alone on August 30th to catch up on sleep and that David Price met the man at 4pm on August 31st. On that day, the solicitor said his client bought the man food from a chipper and kitted him out with a boiler suit and safety shoes and there was no work done at his residence.

On September 1st, he said his client collected the man at 10.30am and they went shopping to buy supplies for David Price’s own vessel, the John B, and that he had lunch with him and his wife. But when it came Jeson Gicale’s turn to give evidence, he said the accused’s version of events were ‘not true.’ The fisherman also rejected the submission that he had offered to help. And he rejected Mr Conway’s submission in cross-examination that David Price took him away from the B&B to keep him entertained while waiting for the Maracestina to arrive.

‘My agency told me he was my employer and I followed his command,’ the deckhand stated.

Judge McNulty asked the witness a few questions to which the man acknowledged that he does not have resident status and that his passport has been confiscated. Furthermore, the man said he is not working and has no source of income, other than what he receives from friends from the Philippines.

In evidence in his own defence, David Price said he was not the man’s employer and that he only met up with him to ensure he was ‘fed and watered and entertained before the vessel came in.’ He said he didn’t call for him on August 30th because he assumed he would be jetlagged. On August 31st he said the man accompanied him when he went to get ‘stores’ for his own vessel, the John B. He said they had burgers and chips and he got the man a boiler suit and boots. He said he went to his own home that day, emptied the van, and then brought the deckhand back to the B&B. On September 1st, he said he collected him at 10.30am or 11am and they had lunch at his house before working together on a rusty bumper.

‘The B&B, where Colin Farrell stays, doesn’t want people hanging around because it is a B&B, not a hotel,’ said the accused. ‘At no stage did I pick him up at 7am. I brought him to my place and told him he could go for a walk,’ said the accused, who admitted there was a Croatian man, who was a deckhand on the John B, working on a JCB at his property.

He said it was his father and his uncle who owned the company and that he was not the man’s employer. He also said he had no contact with the agency in the Philippines.

‘I gave him €50 out of the goodness of my heart. I was trying to take care of the young fella. I was trying to entertain him,’ said the accused. In his closing submissions the State solicitor Mr Healy put it to the accused that it was ‘a happy coincidence’ that he had two crewmen working for him at his place of residence.

David Price responded, saying he couldn’t recall if he had paid the Croatian. ‘He was giving me a hand,’ he said.

Mr Healy submitted that Jeson Gicale was under the direction of David Price and he was asked to do work and was not paid for it. In summing up the case, Judge McNulty invoked his own mother, who would say things like: ‘I have jobs for you.’

Although the witness is ‘a simple fisherman’, Judge McNulty said, he found his evidence to be cogent, credible, compelling and convincing.’

‘Clearly, he was doing work for David Price. David Price brought him to a place he owned to work on vehicles owned by him. And it was a remarkable coincidence that David Price couldn’t remember if the Croatian man was paid.

‘David Price bought him a boiler suit and work boots, which meant he was suited and booted and ready for work.’

‘It is unlikely that this fisherman would embark on work that he was not asked to do, or that the accused was trying to keep him from being bored,’ the judge added. ‘It is highly likely that David Price told him what he wanted done. He – the fisherman – was under the control and direction of David Price.’

Judge McNulty held that the dates – August 29th and 30th – were not proven, but he affirmed that the fisherman was, on September 1st and 2nd, in the employment of David Price without a permit. Judge McNulty noted the significant imbalance of economic power between the two men. He said one got the benefit of another man’s labour because he was not paid, apart from €50 which was docked from his wages.

‘The labourer is worthy of his wage,’ said the judge, who gave the accused an opportunity to pay €1,000 to the fishermen.

After that was done, he gave the accused the benefit of the Probation Act. On the second charge, which related to September 2nd, the judge indicated that he would give the accused the benefit of a conditional discharge. That was conditional on the accused entering into a bond of €10,000 – €2,000 of which was to be in cash – to keep the peace and commit no further offence over the next three years.