Tipperary town woman feels unsafe in home after raid by three Dublin brothers

A woman told Tipperary court that she did not feel safe anymore in her home after money and jewellery was stolen in a burglary carried out by a Dublin family.

€13,000 worth of jewellery and over €3,000 cash was taken from the house at Cashel Road, Tipperary while the occupants Pauline Flavin, who had gone to work, and her husband Philip, was gone for a newspaper.

Three brothers, Edward Wall, Andrew Wall and Michael Wall junior, all with an address at 18 Newtown Park, Tallaght were convicted for the burglary at Cashel Road, Tipperary on August 3 2017.

Their father Michael Wall Senior (with the same address) was found not guilty.

CCTV footage taken from cameras next door at 29 Cashel Road showed an Audi car with distinctive silver alloy wheels driving up and down about six times outside the house at the time of the robbery.

A garda from Tallaght who was acquainted with the family said he recognised the three brothers who got out of the car outside 30 Cashel Road as the three Wall brothers.

Evidence was also given by the gardai in relation to CCTV footage of the same car on an outward and return journey at the Portlaoise toll and also from gardai who were rear seat observers in the garda helicopter patrol who spotted the same car parked up in Tallaght with its rear tight to the wall and no registration plate on the vehicle.

In a victim impact statement made to the court after the three brothers were convicted by Judge Elizabeth McGrath, Pauline Flavin said she continues to feel insecure in her own home since the burglary.

She would get over the stealing of the cash, which was hard earned, but the loss of items of jewellery that had so much sentimental value for her was very upsetting

"I feel totally and utterly disrespected in my own home”, Pauline Flavin told the court.

She said her home insurance was ‘gone through the roof’.

She had respect for the law of the land and expected others to have the same.

The charges of burglary against the three brothers and their father were fully contested.

After hearing the lengthy case, Judge McGrath said she did not believe the standard proof existed in relation to the charge against Michael Wall senior and found him not guilty.

She said the evidence of Gda Kilcoyne from Tallaght who knew the family was compelling.

He recognised the three brothers from their gait, how they walked and how they carried themselves and she believed the standard of proof in relation to the three brothers had been met.

The court was told by solicitor Mr. Hogan that Edward Wall had thirty three previous convictions, Michael Wall Junior had one previous conviction for which he received the probation act and Andrew Wall had no previous convictions.

Both Edward and Michael were married with children and they all lived in Tallaght with their parents.

Judge McGrath said she wanted some level of compensation paid to the viictim and was putting back the matter for that purpose.

There was no means of compensating the victim for the loss of the jewellery items which were of sentimental value.

€3,200 was the monetary loss and she told the defendants that how they went about offering some compensation for the losses incurred would have a bearing on her decision which would be made on September 25.

Pauline Flavin told the court that she left her house at 9.30am to go to work and her retired husband was at home.

Later in the day her husband rang her to say their home had been burgled. They had some sterling and euros in the home because they were over and back to England and had weddings coming up.

Jewellery that she had collected for over forty years was taken.

Philip Flavin said he left the home at about 11.45am to go for a paper. He was back fifteen /twenty minutes later and parked outside the house doing a crossword for about twenty minutes. He went into the house and saw it had been ransacked.

Detective Garda Kieran Keane said he called to 3o Cashel Road on August 3 after a burglary had been reported. The house was ransacked and he contacted the garda scenes of crime unit who examined the house.

He called next door and asked to look at CCTV footage which he downloaded. He looked at the footage and saw an Audi with distinctive allow wheels car drive up and down outside the house six times in a short space of time and it showed males getting out of the car and going to 30 Cashel Road.

He gave the footage to the garda collator in Thurles and the footage was put on the nationwide garda gtube system. He received a call on August 15 from Kilkenny stating that four males had been arrested who had been in an Audi vehicle. The caller believed they were the same four males that he had seen on the footage that had been circulated nationwide.

Detective Garda Keane said he went to interview the four men in Kilkenny, all of whom he identified in court.

The same Audi car he saw in the footage was parked in the station in Kilkenny.

He interviewed Michael Wall senior who said he purchased the car on August 14 and when asked about August 3, he said he could have been at a wedding in the Seven Oaks in Carlow.

Wall Senior said he was last in Tipperary about ‘two or three years ago’. He made inquiries regarding the car and it was not the case it had been purchased on August 14 and there was no wedding held in the Seven Oaks in Carlow on August 3.

Prosecuting inspector Ciara Lee, Detective Garda Keane, Sgt Cathal Godfrey, Judge Elizabeth McGrath and defence solicitor Mr. Hogan then all watched the CCTV footage in court.

Detective Keane said he contacted the operators of the toll booth in Portlaoise and asked to look at footage from August 3. He saw footage of the same Audi going through the toll in a southerly direction and returing towards Dublin later that day. Looking at the footage it was his opinion that Michael Wall Senior was the driver.

Sgt Kieran Kilcoyne was based in Tallaght for nine years and knew the Wall family. They were keen horsemen. He observed the footage and identified the persons in it.

Gda John Finnegan said he was a rear seat observer in a garda helicopter unit on August 6 which was on duty over Tallaght. He noticed an Audi parked at 18 Newtown Park because his attention was drawn to the vehicle by the distinctive alloy wheels. There was no registration plate and it was reversed into a wall. A number of days later he saw footage on the national system and saw footage of a car similar to the one he had seen and he contacted Detective Keane.

After the prosecuting evidence was presented Mr. Hogan said there had been no formal identification of Michael Wall Senior as the driver of the vehicle. The quality of the CCTV footage from the toll was very poor.

In relation to the three brothers he told Justice McGrath that there was no corroborating evidence and there was sole reliance on the CCTV footage from 29 Cashel Road.

Justice McGrath said she did not believe the standard of proof needed had been shown regarding Michael Wall Senior and dismissed the charge. She said the evidence of Sgt Kilcoyne regarding the identification of the three brothers was compelling and convicted all three as she believed the standard of proof had been met.

The court was told the defence would not be calling witnesses. Sentencing was adjourned to September 25.