A man has received a suspended sentence in relation to three charges of theft.
48-year-old, Michael O’Brien of 42 Balloonagh Estate Tralee appeared before Judge David Waters at a special sitting of Tralee District Court.
The court heard evidence that on March 17th 2022, Mr O’Brien was unlawfully took a stainless-steel fishing roller, from the Trá Beag Industrial estate, Dingle.
The custom-made roller was used to roll fishing pots onto a trawler and was worth over €2,000.
The father of three was also charged with the theft of used car batteries worth over €100 at the same address and date.
The court also heard that on October 9th last year, Gardaí on mobile-patrol stopped Mr O’Brien, who was in possession of €1,500 worth of aluminium plating at the Matt Talbot Road in Tralee.
Mr O’Brien’s solicitor, Brendan Ahern told Judge David Waters that the items were not used and returned to the owners, while the car batteries were located next to a recycling bin; adding the 48-year-old was shocked to learn the value of the items.
Mr O’Brien entered a guilty plea to all three charges.
Judge Waters sentenced him to 9 months for each charge, concurrently, suspended for two years.
He added that if Mr O’Brien breaks the terms, he will go to prison and the sentence will change from concurrent to a consecutive sentence.
