Enniskillen Courthouse
A 41-year-old Irvinestown man has been jailed for two months, suspended for one year, after he was convicted of handling a stolen Ifor Williams trailer which was taken from a farm in Co Leitrim.
James Grainger denied handling the stolen property, while his co-accused Nigel Neal and Shaun David Neal, both of Moynaghan, Irvinestown were cleared of similar charges.
The case centred around the Ifor Williams trailer which was stolen from Michael Donoghue’s farm on April 19, 2012.
It was after a chance check on an agriculture classified website some two weeks later that Mr Donoghue spotted the missing trailer.
Under cross-examination, Mr Donoghue explained to the court that he reported the trailer stolen from his farm in Co Leitrim.
When he reported the theft to the Gardai, one of the officers advised him to check a classified website, DoneDeal, which sold agriculture machinery and equipment.
Mr Donoghue made a number of checks on the website and approximately two weeks later he spotted it on the site.
He told the court that it was easily identified because of its unique markings, particularly the word Monaghmore which was riveted into the front panel of the trailer.
Speaking in court Mr Donoghue said: “One Sunday morning I was getting ready to go to Donegal when I logged on to the site and couldn’t believe my luck. I saw the trailer.
“It was priced at £1,420, which I thought was good value as I paid €2,500 for it.
“Below the picture it said to phone this number, which was a Northern Ireland mobile, and said it was in Fermanagh. I was 100 percent sure that was my trailer.”
After contacting the Guards, he was advised to report it to the PSNI. While speaking to a constable he described five unique and distinguishing features that would identify his trailer.
A PSNI officer went to the address of the seller after tracing the mobile number to 27-year-old Nigel Neal’s house in Irvinestown.
However, after inspecting the trailer the police officer claimed he didn’t believe it was the one reported stolen because the markings didn’t match those given to him.
After speaking with Mr Neal, the officer discovered that he bought the trailer from Grainger a number of days previously, while a phone call with Grainger confirmed that he bought the trailer some two weeks before selling it on.
However, Mr Donoghue still believed it belonged to him and some two weeks later, after the PSNI officer discovered the inscribed markings was unique, he called to Nigel and 60-year-old Shaun Neal’s home where they were questioned over the stolen trailer.
However, the pair were cleared of the charges and Grainger was handed a two month prison sentence, suspended for one year.
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