Clonberne contractor took law into own hands over unpaid debt

A CONTRACTOR frustrated by his inability to get paid a €2,200 debt owed to him by another contractor, admitted he took the law into his own hands and seized a trailer from a yard, refusing to return it until he received the money he was owed. However, Judge Geoffrey Browne was told at Tuam Court that the trailer taken belonged to the brother of the man who owed him the money and the defendant was convicted of unauthorised taking and criminal damage. Before the Court was Kevin Rabbitte of Kippaunagh, Clonberne, charged with the offences on April 8, 2001. He was told by Judge Browne that he should have gone to his solicitor to see if he could get his money through a civil process. Rabbitte told him he thought this would have been a waste of time and money. [private] In a statement to the Gardai he said he wanted the matter highlighted in The Tuam Herald, the Roscommon Herald and the Connacht Tribune because he had nothing to hide and he felt he was entitled to take the trailer because of what he was owed. Thomas Devaney told the Court that he was the owner of the low-loader trailer which was taken from Gannon's yard at Keelogues. His brother Paul Devaney received a message that the trailer had been taken and when he went to the yard he found it was missing. He added that shuttering which was on the trailer had been scattered about the yard. He estimated the damage to the steel shuttering to be in the region of €1,600. He and his brother went to the defendant's home in Clonberne and they could see the trailer behind his house. He explained that it was his brother Paul who owed Rabbitte the money, not him and they informed Rabbitte that he had made a mistake. They gave him an hour to give back the trailer and when he still refused they called the Gardai in Dunmore. He produced a cheque stub in Court to show he had purchased the trailer and insisted his brother was not involved with his company. David Higgins solr (for Rabbitte) put it to Thomas Devaney that he was a director of his brother's company and this company owed his client money. The witness replied that he was no longer a director or shareholder of this company and neither was his wife. It was put to him that he only mentioned the damage to the shuttering because the Devaneys wanted to claim Rabbitte owed them money to match the money Paul Devaney owed his client. This was denied. Kevin Rabbitte said in evidence that he had tried to get his money but the Devaneys had stopped taking his calls. He admitted taking the law into his own hands but denied there was any shuttering on the trailer when he took it or that he had used machinery in Gannon's yard to knock the shuttering off it. He admitted checking the yard the day before and returning the following day with a tractor to take the trailer. He said as far as he was concerned the Devaneys worked together. He had dealings with them before and they had always paid for the materials he supplied. He acted as he did because he needed to get some money in to pay his mortgage and felt he had the right to do so. 'I was at the end of my tet,' he said. He told Garda Cormac Bane when making his statement that if he had to go to jail he would. The trailer has since been returned to its owner. The Judge said it was a sad situation which should have been resolved by the parties' solicitors. But the fact remained that Rabbitte should not have taken the trailer. He convicted him for the unauthorised taking of the trailer and for criminal damage, imposing a €100 fine in each case. He refused to grant Thomas Devaney any witness expenses and made no order regarding payment for damage.   Six-year ban A BALLYGLUNIN woman was put off the road for six years and fined €360 when she was convicted of failing to provide a breath sample after her arrest on suspicion of drunk driving. Sandra Bromley (63) of Carrareagh West, Ballyglunin was taken to Tuam Garda Station after her arrest. Her solicitor, Sean Acton, pleaded that his client had provided one sample of the two required and attempted to blow into the intoxalyser three more times but failed. He said she made a genuine effort. Bromley lived in a rural area and the loss of her licence would be of great inconvenience to her. The Court was told the defendant was put off the road for three years in May 2011 when she was convicted of drunk driving. This conviction was recorded after the offence before the Court occurred. Judge Geoffrey Browne said that as this was her second conviction he had no option but to impose a six-year driving ban. [/private]