‘The system is broken, the system is totally wrong’

Seamus Enright

A man whose ride-on lawnmower would have been stolen by thieves last week, but for the timely intervention of gardaí, has called for a major overhaul the criminal justice system and tougher sentences.

“The problem is these lads could have been caught but gone and done another robbery the next night, because they’d have been out as quick as anything. The system is broken,” Eugene McCaul insisted at his Castlesaunderson home earlier this week.
Mr McCaul would have been the latest victim of thieves had gardaí not come across his ride-on lawnmower abandoned by the side of the road.
Mr McCaul’s is the second such property within a mile radius to have been hit by criminals in as many months, and the fifth in the greater Belturbet area. 
His garage was broken into in the early hours of last Wednesday morning, September 6.
It appears that the lawn-mower was pushed from the house onto the road where a vehicle and trailer would have loaded it up and fled, had the gardaí not come across the suspicious scene.
A selection of other tools had also been conveniently laid out by the side of Mr McCaul’s garage ready to be lifted after the thieves had professionally snapped the lock in his garage door.
Eugene and gardaí spent hours searching for one gang member spotted hurdling a gate and running across fields. 
Mr McCaul reckons the man was picked up by another gang member later that morning. He also believes that the culprits knew what they were looking for, and may have cased the property some nights before.
“The gardaí stopped a few cars going by, they had one car [outside the house], and another up at [Leggykelly] Cross, but they got no one. [He] definitely must’ve been in the field for a couple of hours because he wouldn’t have got out on the road without being seen. We did as much as we could do but he got away.”
Mr McCaul, who only bought the Kubota-branded machine earlier this year, says he was “blessed” the gardaí arrived when they did to thwart the thieves.
“Lucky isn’t the word. They tried their damnedest to catch them but nothing. Look it, I don’t know what the answer is - all I know is people living in rural areas are being made feel as if they can't leave their homes right now for fear of being hit.
“You invest in security for peace of mind but you’ll never feel fully safe so long as you know these lads are out there. They’re not afraid, how did it come to this?
 

Broken

Mr McCaul suspects that the problem is not solely down to the level of policing, but to how these thieves are seemingly operating with scant regard for any consequences.
He thinks greater link up between authorities both sides of the Border is required, in addition to a dedicated squad to tackle crime in the area.
“I know [the gardaí] can only do so much. But these lads don’t care one way or another. They know what they’re at, they’re at it seven nights a week. It’s like anybody at any job, if you practice at it you get better.”
He claims the “system is broken” and predicts if the culprits were caught they would be released with a “Micky Mouse suspended sentence or a fine.”
“They have to be afraid to come into the area. They have to be afraid of the consequences. The problem is, they’re not. They’d be let off, and their solicitor would be paid for by the State. They’re not working because they’re out robbing every night of the week. So they automatically get everything paid for them on top of everything else. And it's me, and it’s you, and it’s the lad down the road robbed last week who’s out of pocket. So how do you win?”