Botched ESB station raid

Czech national left with significant legal bills

A 32-YEAR-OLD man, who was involved in a botched raid during which a valuable piece of electronic equipment was stolen from an ESB substation in the Ballybay area, was left with consecutive suspended sentences coming to 10 months when the case was finalised at Monaghan District Court.

Miroslav Sevcik of Bramley Gate, Muckno Street, Castleblayney, had pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage to a chain link fence, stealing an electrical recloser unit worth €6,500, and trespassing at the ESB facility at Corrybrennan, Shercock Road, Ballybay, on September 9, 2024.

Sevcik was also before the court for driving with no licence nor insurance after he was detected at Thorndale, Castleblayney, on the same night.

There had been quite a few adjournments in the case, arising in part from defence queries about the value of the damage to the ESB fence. At the court on January 26, it was confirmed to Judge Raymond Finnegan that the recloser unit (a hi-tech circuit breaker) had in fact been recovered and returned undamaged to the ESB.

Solicitor Niall Fox had noted that any outstanding compensation would therefore relate to the fence only. It was accepted that his client had admitted his guilt, but Mr Fox was of the view that the €6,000 being sought at that stage seemed very high, given that the actual damage related to a hole that was cut in one portion of the fence.

Nor had any invoices been produced, the lawyer noted. But Mr Sevcik had, in any event, managed to raise €1,000 over the Christmas period, which could be handed into court.

At the behest of Judge Finnegan, the State had obtained an invoice for the April 27 hearings, and this showed that the actual fence repair costs were €2,000 in total.

Mr Fox also pointed out that a co-accused in the case had fled the country. The solicitor argued that, if the court were prepared to divide the bill between the two, his client’s half was already covered.

Judge Finnegan, however, was of the view that Mr Sevcik was liable for the full €2,000, and that if he wanted it divided up as suggested, he would “have to talk to his buddy about that”.

A further €400 was handed in by the defendant at that point.

PATIENCE TRIED

The judge’s patience was tried again at the court on May 25, when Sevcik had €560 of the outstanding €600, all in €20 notes in an envelope.

When the defendant finally handed over the last €40 at the most recent airing of the case, Sgt Damien Galligan confirmed that he had nine previous convictions, most of which were for road traffic breaches, especially driving with no insurance.

Prior to sentencing Judge Finnegan put it to Mr Fox that the defendant’s record was “not good”.

Accepting this, the solicitor said the incident at the ESB station was by no means sophisticated. Mr Sevcik was a Czech national who had a partner and earned €400 per week in a factory. He hadn’t shown any propensity for this sort of offending, as his previous were all related to driving or public order breaches.

But he had allowed himself to become involved in a “really stupid decision” regarding the attempt to take this ESB unit. Thankfully, however, the unit itself was recovered, and his client had managed to pay for the damage to the fence.

Judge Finnegan imposed a five-month prison sentence for the damage but suspended this for 24 months on condition that there be no further offending during that period.A consecutive five months, suspended for the same period, was handed down for the uninsured driving at Thorndale, Castleblayney, together with a six-year driving ban; while the offence of driving without a licence attracted a €400 fine with five months allowed for payment.

The theft and trespass charges relating to the ESB station were taken into consideration.

CO-DEFENDANTS

As previously reported in this newspaper, an older brother of the above defendant, Ladislav Sevcik (37), of Coill Darragh, Castleblayney had been given a five-month prison term, suspended for 24 months, when he came before the court last October in relation to having possession of the stolen circuit breaker.This defendant had claimed that his only involvement in the incident was that he agreed to keep the unit at his house, and that he had helped his brother lift it from the boot of a car.

Meanwhile, a third Czech national, Zdenek Kaleja, who previously had an address in Castleblayney, had a bench warrant issued for his arrest after failing to appear at Monaghan District Court in April 2025 in relation the ESB substation incident.

* This article was published with support from the Court Reporting Scheme