More GAA Shame

Nope. Probation act applied. No conviction or criminal record.

Absolutely bizarre! So no punishment basically!

He earned his medal in 2016 anyway, those 3 second half points won the game for Dublin

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More than played his part in the 2017 final end game too when Dublin systematically dragged down anything in red and green to the ground before Clarkeā€™s final kick out :grinning:

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How was he found guilty of perjury?

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I always understood that courtā€™s make it very clear when they find people guilty of something.

You know exactly what I mean. The judge clearly reached the conclusion he was not telling the truth, or heā€™d have been found innocent.
It happens in every criminal and civil trial just about.
Iā€™ve corrected my post.

Itā€™s a tricky one ā€¦ self interest makes you do the self sacrifice in the first instance ā€¦ Iā€™d find it hard to have any link to a medal I didnā€™t actively contribute to winning on the pitch ā€¦itā€™s one thing vying for a place and being in and out of team but to know a long way out that you wonā€™t be getting a sniff would be hard to process ā€¦

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Does a judge not work off probability of which of two versions are more likely to be true ? If so then wouldnā€™t nearly every decision heā€™s arrives at infer one side is guilty of perjury ?

Exactly. Itā€™s beyond reasonable doubt in a criminal case, theoretically, and balance of probability in a civil if I understand it correctly.

I presume your man will take a civil case which will be a slam dunk?

Should be youā€™d imagine. I donā€™t doubt cc was provoked, but stupid thing to do

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The GAAā€™s very own Byron Moreno.

https://www.rte.ie/news/courts/2021/1129/1263767-niall-finnegan-court/

A 39-year-old man who was part of a cross-border organised crime gang that stole over ā‚¬790,000 in ATM robberies over two years, has been jailed for three years.

Niall Finnegan from Cherry Grove, Cullyhanna, Co Armagh admitted possession of ā‚¬103,000 of the cash on 20 August 2019 following an ATM robbery.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt said today there was ā€œa pressing social needā€ to deter people involved in these types of crimes because of the damage they do to rural and semi-rural communities and businesses where bank branches are closing, and ATMs may not be replaced after these robberies.

Niall Finnegan was involved with a cross-border organised crime gang based in south Armagh and east Monaghan which carried out six ATM raids across Cavan, Monaghan and Meath over 2018 and 2019.

The gang stole ā‚¬790,000 in total, ā‚¬440,000 of which gardaĆ­ recovered.

On 14 August 2019, the gang was disturbed by gardaĆ­ as they tried to rob the ATM from a bank in Virginia, Co Cavan and three men were arrested.

The court heard that six days later, Niall Finnegan met with one of the men after he was released and went to land in Tullypole, Co Meath where they dug up some of the stolen cash from the ground and put it in a shed.

When gardaĆ­ raided it, they found ā‚¬298,900 in two plastic containers. They also stopped a car Finnegan was in and found ā‚¬15,000 in the footwell and another ā‚¬88,900 in the boot.

The gang stole ā‚¬790,000 in total, ā‚¬440,000 of which gardaĆ­ recovered

Finnegan had been told he would be ā€œlooked afterā€ but when caught admitted he had made a mistake, pleaded guilty and said he would stay out of trouble for the rest of his life.

He was a GAA referee, and the court heard the father of three was ā€œa hard-working family manā€ who is involved with his community, volunteers, and shows ā€œexceptional kindness and careā€ to others.

However, Mr Justice Hunt said today that Finnegan knew the background to the ATM thefts and there was ā€œa pressing social needā€ to deter people from getting involved in ATM thefts.

These crimes, he said, damaged local businesses and property in rural and semi-rural areas and at a time when banks are closing branches, these ATM machines may not be replaced in these communities.

Finnegan, he said, was 39 years old, a married father of three who had bought his home, travelled widely and had no financial or addiction issues. While serious organised crime groups prey on the foolish and the desperate, he said that Finnegan would have to go to jail.

The judge said that the effect of a custodial sentence should have been a deterrent before he got involved and Finnegan should have thought about going to jail if he was caught.

He sentenced Niall Finnegan to four and a half years in prison with the final 18 months suspended.

Mr Justice Hunt also refused a request by the father of three to stay out of prison and begin his sentence after Christmas, telling him it would not be much of a Christmas with this hanging over him and ā€œthe sooner the sentence starts, the sooner itā€™s overā€.

Finnegan hugged his daughter and wept in the dock and shouted at detective sergeant Mark Looby, ā€œWhat do you think of that?ā€ before he was taken away.

Strange thing to shout to the guard?

ā€œEh, fucking brilliant, best show in town. Now enjoy the cell you thieving bastardā€

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Donā€™t know why he left out the ā€œJoe Brollyā€ bit at the end.

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I wonder had the detective made promises to him around sentencing to get a confession?

They were a bit stupid to be going digging up the cash so quickly after being arrested. Surely they knew they would be watched.

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There was a good interview with Shane Ć³ Donnell in the examiner on Saturday. He detailed his concussion battles. Very worrying. Seems to be recovered now thankfully

Surprised it hasnā€™t been picked over in detail here there are a lot of concussion experts on the board.

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I see your man Efen Etsebeth is stood down til February. Brain injury suffered against England.