Tipperary court convicts in a curious case of three disappearing boilers

A construction worker who stole three boilers valued at €1,000 each has been given a seven-month prison sentence at Thurles District Court. 

Noel Dunne (53) of Seskin, Thurles, was convicted of three counts of theft from Stakelums Hardware on Racecourse Road, Thurles, on January 24 and 25, 2020. 

Mr Dunne pleaded not guilty to taking the boilers.

Garda Andrea Coonan told the court that on January 29, 2020, she responded to a report from the manager of the store of a theft. 

She went to the store, spoke to the manager, Joseph Connelly and viewed the CCTV where she recognised the defendant.

Garda Coonan played the CCTV footage in court, which showed Mr Dunne entering and leaving the store on the days of the incident. 

The court heard he purchased small construction items. 

The defendant can then be seen driving his red caddy van to the side of the building designated for the collection of larger construction items.

In the footage, Mr Dunne can be seen parking in front of a row of boilers, exiting the van and going to the back and opening one of the doors. 

Then, after around a minute, he gets back in the van and drives away. This happened once on January 24 and twice on January 25.

Garda Coonan pointed out for the court that although the van obscures the view of the boilers, on each occasion, a boiler is missing as the defendant drives away. 

The boilers stolen each had a value of €1,000 and were not recovered when gardaí searched the defendant’s home. 

Acting for the defendant, solicitor Colin Morrissey put it to the guard that the CCTV does not show his client taking the boilers.

Garda Coonan replied: “You can clearly see there is a row of boilers there, and then when he drives away, there is one less.”

Judge Fiona Brennan said it was “the view of the court that you can clearly see the boiler removed from its space.”

NOW YOU SEE THEM

Retail Director at Stakelums Joseph Connelly told the court that there was no record of any boilers being purchased on those days. 

Mr Connelly said he was alerted by a member of staff after the weekend that there were less boilers in the yard than there had been on the Friday (January 24, 2020).

Mr Connelly contacted the gardaí after examining the CCTV. 

On cross-examination from Mr Morrissey, Mr Connelly confirmed that the defendant was a regular customer of the store as he worked in construction at the time. 

Mr Morrissey put it to Mr Connelly that the boilers would have been heavy and in the time

Mr Dunne was parked in front of them, it would have been unlikely he could have loaded one in the van on his own.

And only one of the doors of the van was open. Mr Connelly told the court that the boilers are on timber splints, which means they can be “walked” into the van. 

Customers regularly load them in vehicles on their sides, which means it can be done by one person quickly. 

Mr Morrissey asked the witness if he “accepted” that you could not see Mr Dunne do that on the CCTV, to which Mr Connelly replied: 

“The only thing I accept is that they are there when the van pulls up and not when it pulls away.”

‘CYNICAL OFFENCES’

Mr Morrissey told the court that his client did not wish to give evidence.

He said that his client cannot be seen taking the boilers, and therefore, the evidentiary threshold for a criminal proceeding had not been met. 

Acting for the prosecution, Inspector James White said: 

“As the old saying goes, you can hang a man on circumstantial evidence.”

But, he said in this case, the CCTV footage is more than enough evidence to not only meet the threshold but exceed it. 

Judge Brennan said she agreed with the prosecution on not only that the defendant stole the boilers, but how he did so.

“I’m absolutely satisfied it is possible and that it was done in that manner by Mr Dunne, that he did open the door and slide the items in,” said Judge Brennan. 

The court was told Mr Dunne has 58 previous convictions for a number of other offences but none for theft. Mr Morrissey asked that that be taken into account with leniency on sentencing. 

He said his client is currently serving a sentence for another unrelated offence and is due for release in December. 

However, Judge Brennan said she would not be lenient. “These were very cynical offences.

“He was a trusted customer, and he broke that trust, not once but three times in 24 hours,” said Judge Brennan.

The judge also said that since the defendant had contested the matter, which is his right, he “forfeited” any benefit that might have been afforded to him on sentencing.

She imposed a four-month prison sentence for the first incident and a three-month sentence for the second to run consecutively. 

For the third offence, the judge imposed a three-month sentence to run concurrently with the second.