Defendant was reckless as to whether €7k forklift was stolen

A CROSSMAGLEN MAN, who admitted being reckless as to whether a forklift truck he acquired for a fraction of its real value had been stolen, was fined €1,000 when the matter was dealt with at a recent sitting of Monaghan District Court.

Seamus Kelly (36), of Cullaville Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh had pleaded guilty to a charge that he had possession of a stolen Toyota forklift valued at €7,000 at Cornanerriff, Laragh, Castleblayney, Co Monaghan on July 16, 2024.

Sergeant Lisa McEntee said the case was about a forklift that was put up for sale online. An agreement was made to purchase it from its Co Kildare owner, and it was taken into Northern Ireland. It later came into the defendant’s possession via a third party.

The sergeant said there had been an extensive investigation into the matter, which had included a search at Mr Kelly’s premises, where the forklift was found. Mr Kelly, after communicating through emails and WhatsApp, had paid a lot less for it than it was actually worth, and he would have been aware of this.

A barrister for Kelly clarified that the machine had been advertised on DoneDeal by its legitimate owner in Kildare. A third party had agreed to deliver it to an address in Northern Ireland, and this was done. But payment to the original owner never followed.

Mr Kelly’s involvement had been “a few steps removed” from all of this, but he was ultimately accepting that he had been reckless in his conduct. He had agreed to buy it and paid Stg£2,500. And he was now at a loss for this money, counsel added.

It was confirmed to Judge Raymond Finnegan that the forklift in question was still fully operational and currently in Garda possession, pending return to its rightful owner.

Sgt McEntee said Mr Kelly had 18 previous convictions, although these went back to 2010 and before. In April 2010 he was convicted in relation an incident involving the theft of beer kegs, she noted.

Mr Kelly’s lawyer emphasised that all those previous counts had arisen from one incident involving the beer kegs referred to.

He said Mr Kelly was now married and the father of two children aged eight and 12. He was managing a dog breeding farm for a UK-based company and was receiving Stg£1,900 per month. Out of this he was paying a mortgage of €515 per month.

Imposing a €1,000 fine, Judge Finnegan made this payable forthwith, comprising of €500 handed over by the defendant and the remainder from €500 he had previously lodged in cash bail.