A stolen consaw in Kerry and a Sunday knock: Judge rejects illegal entry claim in investigation
The KerrymanA Sunday visit to recover a stolen concrete saw sparked questions about illegal entry at Tralee District Court.
John Casey (45) of 35 Shanakill, Tralee, faced a charge for possession of stolen property on September 15, 2024. The consaw was valued at €15,000.
At the court Detective Garda Kevin Walsh took the stand.
In his testimony, he said he and his colleague approached the front door, knocked, and informed Mr Casey that a stolen consaw was identified as being at his address. The detective said Mr Casey invited them into his house and led them through the kitchen to the backyard, where he opened a small timber shed and took out the consaw. It was seized and taken to the garda station.
“I spoke to him at the front door,” said Det Garda Walsh. “We asked if he was in possession of the consaw and he said he was. He said, ‘come on in and I’ll go get it’ and he brought us through the house.”
Defence solicitor Nuala Liston questioned the invitation.
“Mr Casey would say you walked straight into his house,” she said.
She asked whether the detectives were invited inside.
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“You’ve nothing to that effect in your statement,” she said. “At no place did you say that you had knocked or that you had rung the doorbell. You’re telling me Mr Casey actually invited you into his house?”
“Verbally, yes,” said the detective.
“He would say entry to his house was unlawful,” said the solicitor. She said her client, “a gentleman who would be known to gardaí”, would say he had never invited them into his house.
She did not dispute that her client had taken them to the shed and gave them the consaw.
When asked how it came to be in his possession, the court heard Mr Casey would say he brought the consaw at a car boot sale.
Detective Garda Anthony Wharton took the stand next. He related how he and Det Garda Walsh spoke to Mr Casey outside his door and received an invitation into the house.
“And why didn’t you get a search warrant?” the detective was asked.
“It was a Sunday, judge,” he said. “We weren’t in a position to get a warrant that day.”
“There was a fear the property would be gone because it was for sale on his website,” said the detective.
Although the garda statement did not specify whether gardaí had knocked or rang a doorbell, Judge David Waters found Mr Casey’s behaviour “totally consistent with the type of co-operation gardai described”.
“Just because there are matters left out of the statement, doesn’t mean that there’s an inconsistency,” said the judge.
In a separate incident, Mr Casey pleaded guilty to burglary from Cld Accountants at 5 Day Place, Tralee on November 27, 2023. The court heard Mr Casey and another man broke a basement window between 9.50 to 10.30pm and stole €359.
Ms Liston said her client had struggled to break a cycle of addiction, noting three years had passed since his last conviction.
The judge replied, “He has serious previous convictions so he cannot avoid a custodial sentence”.
He sentenced Mr Casey to five months in prison for each conviction, to run concurrently.