Court archive
Court reports mentioning Stamullen, Meath
2024-05-01 · Meath
Michael Tuzuka, 46, of Orchard Drive, Stamullen, pleaded guilty to 11 counts of using false instruments for counterfeit cheques totalling €98,250, lodged between March and April 2018 at branches of Permanent TSB in Drumcondra, Swords, Malahide, Ashbourne and Drogheda. Gardaí, alerted by Permanent TSB on 12 April 2018, identified Tuzuka on CCTV making the lodgements and later spotted him driving a Jaguar to another bank at about 1 am. The cheques were immediately flagged by bank software and frozen, so no loss was incurred. Tuzuka had 11 prior convictions, including theft and abusive behaviour, and had previously served a three‑year sentence during which he contracted TB. Judge Martin Nolan sentenced him to three years' imprisonment, noting his cleverness but that he was defeated by the software. The court heard he had struggled to find work after release and was motivated by a desire to support his family.
2023-11-08 · Meath
Linda Finnegan, aged 51, of Stamullen, was found guilty of fraud under the Companies Act for withdrawing €35,601 from her family's Waldorf Barbers, a business she owned 25 % of. The fraud occurred in March 2019, shortly after her father Liam Finnegan's death from cancer. The court heard that Liam had owned 75 % of the company and had bequeathed that share to two employees, while Linda had a 25 % share. She had initially denied theft charges but pleaded guilty to a fourth count of fraud. The court set a headline sentence of two and a half years, reduced to one year and nine months, fully suspended. The judgment noted her remorse, cooperation with Gardaí, and that the company was liquidated as a result of the fraud. No prior convictions were recorded.
2023-10-20 · Meath
Linda Finnegan, 51, of Stamullen, was found guilty of fraud under the Companies Act for withdrawing €35,601 from her family's Waldorf Barbers shop in Dublin. The shop, founded by her father Liam Finnegan, had been run successfully for many years, with Liam owning 75 % and Linda 25 %. After a falling out in 2016, Liam's share was bequeathed to two employees. Following Liam's death in February 2019, Linda withdrew €4,950 and €28,000 in March 2019 without permission, and later €2,651. Gardaí seized cash from her home and CCTV captured the withdrawals. The company was liquidated, but the employees continue trading under a new name. Linda has no prior convictions and has expressed remorse; the case was adjourned for sentencing to 2 November.
2020-12-23 · Dublin
The trial of Kieran Greene, aged 61, centred on the murder of his partner's mother, Patricia O'Connor, who was found dead in a shallow grave in Wexford. Greene admitted to a physical altercation in the house, claiming he struck her with a hurley and she struck him back. He said she became unresponsive, that he carried her upstairs, placed her in the boot of a Toyota Corolla, drove to Wexford, dug a shallow grave, buried her, and later dismembered her body with a hacksaw. Greene told Gardaí he had acted alone, that he had no accomplices, and that he had handed himself in because he could not live with the guilt. He also claimed the murder was self‑defence. The prosecution presented CCTV footage, forensic evidence of hair and body parts, and statements from family members to show Greene's involvement. The jury heard that Greene's December interview was unreliable and that he had changed his account.
2020-06-26 · Meath
Augustine 'Gus' O'Connor, 76, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for pleading guilty to impeding the apprehension or prosecution of his wife's murderer. He had reported his wife, Patricia O'Connor, as missing after learning she had been killed by Kieran Greene, 35, in their home. Mr Justice Paul McDermott at the Central Criminal Court described his conduct as "appalling" and noted that O'Connor had expressed remorse and had no prior convictions. The judge reduced the headline sentence of three years to 18 months.
2020-03-06 · Louth
In a murder trial, Paula Farrell, 47, pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter for the unlawful killing of Wayne 'Quilly' McQuillan, 30, who was stabbed at her Drogheda home on New Year's Day 2014. Dr Michael Curtis, former Deputy State Pathologist, described four stab wounds, including a fatal one to the left subclavian vein and lung. He noted the wounds were close and parallel, suggesting rapid, successive strikes, and said the injuries could have been survivable with prompt medical intervention. Dr Maria Murillo testified that Farrell was intoxicated and unfit for questioning at 7 am on New Year's Day, having been drinking since 3 pm the previous evening. The court heard that Farrell had been treated for schizophrenia and had been drinking daily. The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul McDermott.
2020-02-11 · Dublin
The Central Criminal Court trial of Kieran Greene, Louise O'Connor, Stephanie O'Connor, and Keith Johnston is ongoing. Greene, 35, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Patricia O'Connor, 61, at her home in Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, on May 29, 2017. The other three accused have pleaded not guilty to charges of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of an offender. The jury was told that Augustine 'Gus' O'Connor, 75, originally part of the trial, pleaded guilty on the first hearing date to reporting his wife missing on June 1, 2017, while knowing she was dead. Evidence presented includes Detective Inspector Brian O'Keeffe's testimony regarding Greene's initial statements and subsequent retraction, where Greene alleged he was set up. The prosecution closed its case, and defence counsel made applications in the jury's absence. The court heard that Mrs O'Connor's remains were found dismembered in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains. Mr Justice Paul McDermott adjourned the proceedings, instructing the jury to return the following morning at 12pm.
2019-08-01 · Dublin
The Special Criminal Court has acquitted Darren Weldon of membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Óglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the IRA on October 14, 2014. Weldon, who pleaded not guilty, was previously convicted of the same offence in January 2017 and sentenced to five years imprisonment with the final year suspended. That conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal in June 2018, resulting in the current retrial. The prosecution's case relied primarily on the belief evidence of Detective Chief Superintendent Anthony Howard, supported by alleged independent strands including a DNA match to a number plate from the 2010 Newry courthouse bombing, an image of Alan Ryan on Weldon's phone, and adverse inferences from interviews. The court found that the integrity of the number plate was not properly preserved, rendering the DNA evidence unreliable. It also could not draw inferences regarding the phone image or the interviews, as the solicitor's objections to the arrest's lawfulness were reasonable. Consequently, the court found the belief evidence unsupported by independent evidence and acquitted Weldon. This decision follows the procedural stage of an appeal that overturned the prior conviction.
2019-07-03 · Dublin
In a Special Criminal Court hearing, Darren Weldon, 47, from Kilbarrack, Dublin, pleaded not guilty to membership of an unlawful organisation called the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Prosecuting counsel Paul Greene was presented with evidence that Weldon's mobile phone contained three images, including two pictures of the late Real IRA leader Alan Ryan with the caption "heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done regardless of the consequences." Detective Sergeant Eileen Keogh, who extracted the images, acknowledged that they could have been sent to Weldon by someone else and that deleted WhatsApp conversations can leave saved images on a phone. Witnesses including Detective Inspector William Hanrahan, Garda Jude Ainsworth and Garda James Flaherty recounted encounters with Alan Ryan and Weldon in 2011 and 2012, but did not provide further evidence of wrongdoing. The trial is set to continue tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul Coffey, Judge Gerard Griffin and Judge Michael Walsh.
2017-10-31 · Dublin
Real IRA leader Seamus McGrane was bugged by the Gardai as he plotted in a well-known Dublin pub with another man to carry out an operation involving explosives during the run-up to the State visit of Prince Charles two years ago. The Garda National Surveillance Unit planted a sophisticated listening device in the snug of the Coachman's Inn on the Airport Road, which recorded conversations between McGrane – a founder of the Real IRA – and engineering graduate Donal O'Coisdealbha. McGrane (63), from Dromisikin in Co Louth, is only the second person to be convicted of directing a terrorist organisation in the State. His former colleague and fellow founder of the Real IRA Michael McKevitt was jailed for 20 years in 2003 for directing terrorism between August 1999 and October 2000. He was released from prison in 2016. During McGrane's trial at the Special Criminal Court, during which there was no cross-examination of prosecution witnesses, the court heard recordings of the conversations between McGrane and O'Coisdealbha in April, 2015. McGrane told O'Coisdealbha: 'Go with whatever plan you wish. I think he's coming on the 19th (a reference to Prince Charles). I don't like an embarrassment.' McGrane then mentioned 'military significance.' 'Symbolic,' O'Coisdealbha replied. 'Symbolic is right,' replied McGrane. The two men were heard in the recording of April 19th discussing a location 'around 400 metres from the target.' Detective Sergeant Padraig Boyce said that the location being discussed was approximately 400 metres from the Cross of Sacrifice, a monument in Glasnevin Cemetery commemorating British and Irish soldiers who fought in World War 1. The two men were also recorded discussing a bomb found on a train line in Northern Ireland in February 2015 and an attack on MI5 Headquarters in London in April, 2010. The court also heard that gardai found bomb making components in a field adjacent to McGrane's house. McGrane was jailed for four years by the Special Criminal Court in 2001 after he pleaded guilty to training others in the use of firearms.
2016-05-11 · Meath
Breffni O'Rourke, aged 67 and living in Ferrybank, Waterford, was convicted in 2012 of indecently assaulting a nine‑year‑old girl in his home in 1987. He had pleaded not guilty at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The jury found him guilty and Judge Desmond Hogan sentenced him to two years' imprisonment, with the final 12 months suspended. O'Rourke appealed the conviction, but the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on several grounds. Justice Garrett Sheehan, sitting with Justices Alan Mahon and John Edwards, noted that O'Rourke was single and lived alone in a cottage, worked in credit control, and gave music lessons. He had begun teaching the victim in 1985, later moving lessons to his home. The court found the evidence of a 1992 meeting and subsequent complaints credible, and concluded that any alleged prejudice was minimal. The appeal was rejected.
2015-12-08 · Meath
In 2015, Breffni O'Rourke, a 67‑year‑old music teacher, appealed a 2012 conviction for indecent assault of a nine‑year‑old girl in 1987. He had been found guilty by a jury and sentenced to two years' imprisonment, with the final 12 months suspended. O'Rourke's barrister, Colman Cody SC, argued that the jury should have been discharged because of prejudicial evidence from the complainant's twin sister. She claimed O'Rourke was 'friendly' and had a 'habit of tickling us', and that he would put his hands under clothes and feel skin. Cody said this testimony was not probative and was highly prejudicial, and that it went beyond mere tickling. He also contended that the defence was denied access to notes from an English teacher that might have clarified the complainant's earlier statements. The Director of Public Prosecutions maintained that the witness's remarks were not prejudicial, and the Court of Appeal would reserve judgment. Breffni O'Rourke pleaded not guilty.
2014-03-06 · Dublin
At Balbriggan District Court, Peter Flood (32) pleaded guilty to assault causing harm after allegedly headbutting his former partner, breaking her nose. Judge Dermot Dempsey sentenced Flood to 240 hours of community service work in lieu of a six-month prison term, bound him to the peace for two years, and ordered him to continue anger management and drug treatment. In a separate matter, David El Masri (32) pleaded guilty to custody of equipment for making copies and ten charges of copying movies for sale. Judge Dempsey struck out the case after El Masri paid €500 to Balbriggan St Vincent de Paul and ordered the destruction of counterfeit material. Neil O'Brion (27) pleaded guilty to using threatening and abusive behaviour towards gardai. His case was struck out following a €500 donation to AWARE charity. Finally, Bridget McDonagh (27), who is alleged to have committed social welfare fraud by concealing allowances, was remanded on continuing bail. The judge granted the State eight additional weeks to complete the book of evidence, with McDonagh scheduled to reappear on May 8th.
2014-02-27 · Dublin
Rory Grant (48) pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of an intoxicant and having no insurance on May 20, 2013, at Chieftain's Drive in Balbriggan. Judge Patrick Clyne sentenced him to four months, suspended for two years, for the driving offence, and a concurrent four-month sentence, suspended for two years, for the insurance offence. Grant was also disqualified from driving for four years. Stephen O'Shaughnessy (23) pleaded guilty to trespass, theft of alcohol, and handling stolen property. The matter was adjourned until May 1st, with the judge requiring O'Shaughnessy to cooperate with Probation Services and provide €376 in compensation. Sean Lynch (26) is alleged to have assaulted a person by sticking a lit cigarette in their eye at Home Nightclub in Balbriggan on July 31, 2011. He was remanded on continuing bail, and the case was adjourned until March 27th. Billy Atete (44) pleaded guilty to failing to provide a breath sample at Balbriggan Garda Station on February 2. He was fined €250 and disqualified from driving for four years.
2013-12-05 · Dublin
Arvis Jakobsons, 26, of Swords, pleaded guilty to criminal damage after smashing the front and bathroom doors of his ex‑partner's house on Main Street, Rush. Gardaí were called when the ex‑partner reported the intrusion. The damage was estimated at €400. Judge Dermot Dempsey demanded Jakobsons pay for the repairs, which he did by contributing €250 in court. After the payment, the charge was struck out. Separately, Stephen O'Shaughnessy, 23, of Stamullen, pleaded guilty to trespass, theft of alcohol, and handling stolen property. He was remanded on continuing bail, required to pay €426 in compensation, and was ordered to appear again on 28 February 2014. Finally, Niall Byrne, 31, of Balbriggan, was disqualified from driving for four years and fined €500 after Garda Derek Dalton seized his car for lacking insurance and tax, following a prior two‑year disqualification in 2012. All proceedings were held at Balbriggan District Court.