HORSE thieves were most likely responsible for the smashing of a post and rail fence which allowed horses on to the Naas dual carriageway, a judge has held.
Judge James Carroll dismissed a damages claim in Dublin Circuit Civil Court after hearing that straying horses had caused an accident near Rathcoole on October 22nd 1994.
Mr Seamus Woulfe, counsel for horse owner, Mr Noel Prendergast, Coolmine, Saggart, Co Dublin, said his client had been sued by Mr Bernard Loughran, trading as South County Car Rentals, Rochestown Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, for more than £4,000 damage to a Ford Transit van.
He said it was conceded two of three horses involved had been owned by Mr Prendergast, but denied they had got on to the road through any negligence of his client. Two of four horses belonging to Mr Prendergast had never been recovered and he submitted they had been stolen by a third party who had smashed down fencing in perpetrating the theft.
Judge Carroll held it was most unlikely the horses had burst through the perfectly adequate post and rail fencing. "Horses are not aggressive animals," he said.
Judge Carroll said the inference to be drawn from the evidence was that the post and rail fence had been smashed by some third participant intent on stealing a horse.