They just will, they’ll charge a set fee for inspections I.suppose.
‘The gardai said they were at Electric Picnic’ - Farmer raided six times in three years
A Laois farmer whose holding has been raided six times in three years is at his wits’ end
Ken Whelan
15/09/2015 | 02:30SHARE
'They came at around 3am last week and simply cleared off with every tool in my shed and took every bit of diesel in the place," says Charles O’Connor, a dairy farmer from Ballyroan near Abbeyleix.
The 38-year-old farms 200 acres plus in the area and is a ‘veteran victim’ of the marauding criminal gangs whose nightly clean out of farm sheds and farmyards throughout rural Ireland has become an epidemic.
He’s now recovering from his sixth farm raid in three years.
“When I asked the Gardai where they were over the past few days they said they were at Electric Picnic,” he says on the policing and traffic plans required for the Co Laois music festival.
“The haul this time included diesel from five tractors lined up to do silage cutting the next day, what remained in the diesel tank in the dairy, a trailer and a huge amount of tools from the shed.”
He had ramped up security on the farmyard.
"They left behind three angle grinder blades which shows you how long it took them to get into the shed.
“And in the shed there was a huge amount of new tools we were storing for a friend and carpenter who works in Dublin. He asked us to store them because he was changing his transport from a transit van to a jeep,” Charles continues.
“When they got through that roll-up shed door they must have thought it was Christmas and I haven’t seen the gardai since the crime was reported,” he adds.
Property worth over €20,000 was removed in the raid.
He wasn’t the only farmer ‘hit’ this time.
Pat Delaney, a widower who lives with his son William, daughter-in-law Maeve and grandson, were broken into at 2am a day earlier.
They also had the contents of their shed removed.
They too had security measures on the premises to try and ward off the now all too common thefts.
"They seemed to have crawled under the beam at the shed and broke their way in but they must have tripped the beam on the way out because my son William got a text alert at the time and went out to investigate.
“He saw the raiders making their way out of the farm and gave them chase but lost them on that main road Dublin to Cork Road.”
Pat, who is changing over to dairy farming from tillage and suckler rearing on his 100 acre-plus holding between Abbeyleix and Durrow, says he has become scared about these raids.
"There is no question but someone is going to be killed during one of these raids.
"These are feral gangs and they don’t give a care.
“Some night there is going to be a shooting and an innocent person will probably be the victim,” Pat told the Farming Independent.
“We have all become a bit paranoid by what’s going on. I don’t go out to do a bit of harvesting on the farm now without locking everything up,” he adds.
The raiders, who took a power washer, welders, air guns and sockets, were driving an old Toyoto registered in the 1990s during the raid.
“They probably took other things, but we will only know that when we go to look for them,” he says.
Pat’s neighbour, John Talbot, who suffers with leg pain and recently switched from dairying to beef farming to ease up on the volume of work with milking, was also a victim.
He had an off road jeep and its contents, electrical fencing, stolen in another midnight raid.
He says it has reached the stage where farmers in the area will have to put up signs outside their holding to tell the gangs: ‘I’ve been raided already. There is nothing left to take’.
"And I have noticed recently that these raids have become a weekday or weeknight activity.
“Obviously these gangs need time to spend their ill-gotten gains and you don’t hear of these robberies on Saturdays and Sundays anymore,” he adds.
Indo Farming
How convenient
Why do you hate rural Ireland mac?
I don’t mate - not sure what gives you that impression.
You’re so full of hate mac, stop being full of hate.
Right, you’re in one of those moods today so. Noted.
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Three arrests after gang ram Garda cars in Portlaoise
CRIME RURAL BURGLARY GANG CAUGHT IN PORTLAOISE
Three members of a rural crime gang were arrested early this morning, Tuesday July 12, after they rammed a stolen jeep into Garda cars, injuring four officers, at a checkpoint in Portlaoise.
Just after midnight the men, aged 36, 38 and 39 years, failed to stop at a checkpoint in Cloncourse Portlaoise, set up as part of a Garda operation to target burglaries and theft in rural areas of Laois, Offaly, Tipperary, Carlow and Kilkenny,
They were driving a 4x4 vehicle that was stolen in Laois on June 23/24.
They rammed a marked Garda car and collided with a second Garda vehicle. The men fled from the 4x4 into a field close by.
Gardaí immediately searched the area with the assistance of the Garda Air Support Unit and arrested the three men a short time later.
They were brought to Portlaoise and Tullamore Garda Stations where they are currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.
Four Gardaí received non-life threatening injuries during the incident and attended Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise. No other injuries were reported.
Gardaí from five counties including the Laois Offaly division were involved in the operation, backed up by Regional Suport Units and the Garda Air Support Unit.
The scene was preserved for technical examination.
The Garda operation to tackle the rural gangs has so far recovered vehicles, trailers and farm equipment, during on-going searches.
“Gardaí remain focused on tackling travelling criminal gangs and prolific burglars.
An Garda Síochána continues to work closely with the main agricultural representative organisations, IFA, ICMSA, to raise awareness within the farming community and the wider Garda organisation on rural crime,” a press officer said.
I hope they accidentally shoot them in the face
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Great stuff.
Getting sent to the circuit court, having their 130 other convictions read out, then getting a final warning from the judge as he gives them a 6 month suspended sentence will really teach those bastards.
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The system works!
There’s so much to love about the below…
Three men who were arrested following an incident in which four gardaí were injured in Co Laois have been remanded in custody until later this month.
Thomas McInerney (39), Twomey Park, Mountmellick; William McInerney(36), Newline Close, Mountrath; and Gerard McInerney (38), Moanbaun, Mountrath appeared before Judge Catherine Staines at Tullamore District Court.
All three faced charges of possessing stolen property, the unauthorised taking of a vehicle, and possession of articles at Cloncourse, Mountrath, last Tuesday.
Sgt Mark O’Connell gave evidence of arrest and caution. He said five Garda units had been involved in the arrest at Cloncourse. Two Garda patrol cars had been rammed and four gardaí ended up in hospital, he said.
Wearing balaclavas
Sgt O’Connell later told the court: “I was present when the incident occurred. Three men alighted the vehicle wearing balaclavas.”
Supt Joe Pendergast said gardaí were seeking to have the three accused remanded in custody and were strongly objecting to bail in all three cases under section 2 and 2A of the Bail Act. Judge Staines remanded the three in custody to appear before Cloverhill District Court on July 20th.
Applying for bail for Thomas McInerney, solicitor Philip Meagher said his client, a married father of three, had resided at the same Mountmellick address for the past 15 years.
Mr Meagher said the charges being faced by his client carried a maximum sentence of five years and he was willing to obey strict bail conditions.
Chief Supt John Scanlan said the defendant was arrested as part of an intelligence-led operation which had been targeting a group of criminals.
This Garda operation had been established specifically because of crimes that were terrifying rural communities.
William McInerney’s solicitor Donal Farrelly said his client “has put forward an innocent explanation as for his presence on this day”.
‘No evidence’
He said the married father of six had not been driving the vehicle.
Mr Farrelly said there was no evidence the men had stolen the vehicle.
Counsel John Connellan applied for bail for his client Gerard McInerney.
Mr Connellan told the court his client was an unemployed married father of six.
He said the charges were at the lower end of the scale in terms of bail applications and his client was willing to obey any number of bail conditions.
Chief Supt Scanlan said the criminal gang being targeted had burgled homes, commercial premises and farms, and had driven high-powered vehicles dangerously to try and evade capture. The interiors of these vehicles were sprayed with a liquid, generally suncream, to prevent the collection of forensic evidence.
Judge Staines requested a statement of means in all three cases and reserved the issue of legal aid, which she said could be backdated to July 13th.
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I thought all rural burglaries were now carried out by lads down from Dublin using the motorways 
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They moved down years ago, sometimes you just can’t hack the commute to work when you’ve a young family
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“Charges at lower end of scale in relation to bail applications”
Eh sham they rammed two cop cars put on their balaclavas and tried to do a runner. And you reckon they aren’t a flight risk!
He should be fucking ashamed of himself that solicitor. Grand they are entitled to representation but don’t piss up my back and tell me it’s raining you cnt
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I liked this piece
Innocently wearing his balaclava as he sprinted across a field of barley as the Garda helicopter gave chase.
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I’d say they got a good rattling around in the back of the Paddy wagon on the way back to the station. Around a few tight bends too quick. Brakes slammed on a few times. They should be kneecapped
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Are they travellers or just scumbags?
I have absolutely no idea.
FFS. What’s the point in you being the Midlands correspondent so?
I bet Cia-ran Ma-Looley would know
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