Court archive
Court reports mentioning Castlederg, Tyrone
2025-07-30 · Tyrone
Clodagh Byrne, 32, of Castlederg, pleaded guilty to theft at Marks & Spencer in Dublin on 24 July. She admitted taking items worth €223.70, claiming she acted in a "moment of madness" after seeing images of suffering in Gaza. Byrne said she believed the store was funding genocide and supporting Zionists, and that her theft was a reaction to those scenes. Judge Anne Watkin rejected this as an abuse of people suffering, stating it was not a valid excuse for shoplifting. The judge suggested Byrne avoid the store if she felt that way and questioned her self‑employment as a therapist. Byrne was fined €500, with a six‑month payment period. The case was heard under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act. The court did not impose any custodial sentence.
2024-01-24 · Tyrone
A 75-year-old milk collection haulier from Castlederg, County Tyrone, has received a fully suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for failing to remit over €160,000 in VAT to the Revenue Commissioners between 2012 and 2015. James Wauchope pleaded guilty to six sample counts of the offence. Judge Martin Nolan imposed a headline sentence of five years but suspended it in full for three and a half years, citing extenuating circumstances. The court heard that Wauchope suffers severe post-traumatic stress disorder following an incident in which he was locked in one of his trucks with a bomb by the IRA, and that he endured the death of a son who required round-the-clock care following a 1986 road accident. The judge stated that life had inflicted sufficient punishment on the defendant. Wauchope was ordered to repay €65,000 to Revenue within one year, in addition to €60,000 already repaid. He has no previous convictions.