Three thieves caught ‘red handed’ in possession of stolen property, which included a Jeep, and which was located in remote bog-land in Co. Laois, in July of last year, were today sentenced to be incarcerated, by Mr Justice Keenan Johnson, at Portlaoise Circuit Court.
The three men had continued to remain in custody, since their arrest on July 12th, 2016.
Judge Johnson noted that the three individuals; named as Mr Thomas McInerney aged 41, with an address at Twomey Park, Mountmellick; his brother Mr Gerard McInerney aged 39, with an address at Moonbaun Close, Mountrath; and their cousin Mr William McInerney, aged 37, residing at Newline Close, Mountrath, had all admitted to being in possessing of stolen property taken from five farms in Co Tipperary and Co Laois.
Judge Johnson described this type of criminal activity as “an attack on the fabric of rural society”, stating that rural life is very much built on basic trust and such crime must be perceived as “an attack on the fundamentals on which rural life is based”.
During this Garda operation, on the night of July 11th 2016, a number of Gardaí were injured when an unmarked Garda vehicle and an Armed Response Unit vehicle were both rammed by the Jeep; while one of the injured Gardaí, to date, has not as yet returned to his workplace, following this incident.
One officer had suffered a broken ankle while another had suffered soft-tissue injuries to his back, neck and knee. This operation had involved officers from the Garda Armed Response Unit, the Garda National Surveillance Unit, local Detectives and the Air Support Unit on the night in question.
Mr Thomas McInerney, described as the ring leader, was sentenced to four years and four months in prison; while Mr Gerard McInerney and Mr William McInerney were each sentenced to three years and six months incarceration, for their role in the incident.
Leave a Reply