Three face jail for diesel theft

Three face jail for diesel theft

THREE men who stole diesel from an isolated farm have been told they deserve to go to prison.

Peter Conlon (21), of Commons Road, Ballykinlar, Andrew Robinson (25), of Shore Road, Ballykinlar, and James Fitzpatrick (24), of Drumhill Park, Castlewellan, stole £75 worth of red diesel from a farm near Seaforde.

The trio had denied the theft, which occurred on December, 5, 2012, until moments before they appeared in the dock at Downpatrick Court on Monday.

Adjourning sentencing until March 27, District Judge Greg McCourt told all three they had lost any discount

they might have been entitled to by not pleading guilty at an earlier opportunity.

The three were caught shortly after a member of the public stopped a car at Tannaghmore Road, Seaforde, at around 1am. The car contained seven 25-litre containers, three of which were full up.

Police arrived and Conlon, who was driving the car, was arrested. Robinson and Fitzpatrick ran away, but were caught a short time later “looking muddy and smelling of diesel.”

Judge McCourt said it was a “particularly mean offence” which involved going to an elderly person’s farm and and stealing red diesel. “People who do this deserve to go to prison,” he remarked.

He told the defendants that they had denied their involvement, even though they had been caught “red-handed.”

Adjourning sentencing for a pre-sentence report, he added: “You can expect serious punishment for this. Be prepared.”