Three men receive suspended sentences for DART damage

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

Three Spanish men received suspended prison sentences at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for criminal damage to DART carriages at Fairview DART Depot on 10 October 2021. The proceedings were reported on 8 July 2022.

Jonay Saiz Gallo, 25, Luis Garcia Diaz, 30, and Francisco Jose Jiminez Espinosa, 27, each pleaded guilty to criminal damage. Defence counsel said they had pleaded guilty at an early date and were apologetic.

Judge Pauline Codd sentenced Gallo to two and a half years, suspended for the same period on condition that he keep the peace and pay Irish Rail €1,200. She gave Diaz a suspended two-year sentence on conditions that he keep the peace and pay €2,500 to Irish Rail.

The judge also imposed a suspended two-year sentence on Espinosa on condition that he keep the peace, and ordered him to pay Irish Rail €1,700. The compensation was to be paid within 12 months.

Garda Richard Ledwidge said Irish Rail staff saw four men spray-painting carriages on CCTV. Gallo was recording the others on his phone. The three accused were apprehended after the men ran from gardaí; a fourth man escaped.

Gallo and Espinosa made no admissions in interview. Diaz told gardaí he had travelled to Ireland for a short period and had not intended to cause trouble; he apologised and identified his tag. Defence counsel said the men were interested in art and Gallo and Espinosa had received commissions in Spain.

Judge Codd said no real explanation had been provided for Gallo's actions and described them as a misguided and misplaced artistic endeavour. She regarded his use of his phone as an aggravating factor. The report said the damage to four carriages was €12,193, and Irish Rail also lost €6,494 in revenue.