'I don’t believe a word out of his mouth' - Judge questions why man had hammer and crowbar for 'pallets’
A judge has said that she does not believe “a word” of the explanation offered by a man who was found asleep in a GO rental car with a hammer and crowbar and claims that the items were for use with wooden pallets.
Reagan Chang (53), of Swallowbrook View, Clonee, Co Meath, pleaded guilty (GUILTY) at Dún Laoghaire District Court to possessing the two items in his car at a car park in Dundrum on January 30, 2023. The case was brought under Section 9(4) of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990.
Garda Brenda O’Brien told the court that she found Mr Chang asleep in the driver’s seat of a GO car in the car park at Dundrum, with the door open. She approached him to check on his welfare and spotted a hammer inside the vehicle. She also found a crowbar in the car.
The court heard Mr Chang was arrested on suspicion of possessing offensive weapons and taken to Dundrum Garda Station. Garda O’Brien told the court Mr Chang told her the items were “for his own protection”.
Judge Anne Watkin said it sounded like the items were being carried “for a very sinister purpose”.
However in court, Mr Chang denied saying any such thing. “No, I didn’t say that – I said nothing,” he insisted.
Prosecuting solicitor Ruth Walsh asked Mr Chang if he had ever claimed to have the tools for work. “No,” Mr Chang replied.
She noted that Mr Chang had given no explanation in court for possessing the items. “He’s remaining silent – he is not saying anything in mitigation. He hasn’t said they were for work or any legitimate purpose. In these cases, he needs to justify why.”
“I don’t accept his evidence,” she said. “Garda O’Brien wouldn’t have written that down for no reason.”
Defence counsel, Michael O’Brien BL, said Mr Chang had been out looking for discarded wooden pallets and that this account had been provided from an early stage, though the prosecution had not questioned him on it in court.
When Judge Watkin remarked that the explanation had come “out of the blue,” Mr O’Brien responded: “He wasn’t asked.”
“He informed me he had been out looking for wooden pallets. Those instructions had been given at an early stage,” he said.
Judge Watkin replied: “It’s not what he told the guards.”
She said the explanation “made no sense” and added: “He’s either lied to the Gardaí or is now lying to the court.”
“I don’t believe a word out of his mouth,” she continued. “He’s given no real reason at all for having the hammer and crowbar – no suggestion they were for work, or anything legitimate. And now, we’re suddenly told he needed them for wooden pallets?”
Judge Watkin said: “I don’t know why you’d need a crowbar and a hammer for wooden pallets.”
Michael O’Brien BL suggested: “Maybe to take them apart.”
Judge Watkin said there was no indication in court that Mr Chang felt threatened or in need of protection, despite what Garda O’Brien told the court he had said at the time.
“Sometimes people are genuinely afraid – whether due to being homeless or caught up with others involved in drugs – but there’s no evidence of that here,” she said. “Unless he was out looking to steal property and didn’t want to admit it.”
She adjourned the case for a full probation report, telling the court: “Let’s see if probation can get to the bottom of it.”
Mr Chang is due back before the court on November 17.