Thomas Nicholson remanded for mini-digger theft

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Thomas Nicholson was remanded in custody pending sentence for stealing a mini-digger. Judge Martin Nolan said he needed time to consider the case, revoked Nicholson’s bail and remanded him until the following week for sentence.

Nicholson pleaded guilty to theft at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The offence took place on 6 March 2014. He had no previous convictions. The proceedings were reported on 29 April 2015.

Nicholson hired the machine, worth just over €17,000, using his own passport and bank statement and arranged delivery to a field. Gardaí were contacted when it was not returned. The report said the machine, originally bought for €32,000, had never been returned to the hire company.

Garda Thomas Tighe told Kerida Naidoo BL, prosecuting, that gardaí traced Nicholson through the documents left with the hire company. The report said Nicholson later claimed in a Garda interview that he had taken the digger on someone else’s behalf and did not know where it was.

Garda Tighe agreed with Vincent Heneghan BL, defending, that using his own documents made it clear Nicholson would not get away with the theft. He accepted that Nicholson had a drug debt arising from cocaine addiction. The report said Nicholson told gardaí “it wouldn’t be good for his health” to assist the investigation.

Mr Heneghan said Nicholson, a father of two, had been kept “on the straight and narrow” by his partner and no longer abused drugs. The report said he was taking a security course, was unemployed and had €700 in court as a token of remorse.