A Co Cork father and son have pleaded guilty to attempting to make a bogus BSE compensation claim. They changed their pleas at the end of the first week of their trial.
Bryan Wilson, of Dunmanway, admitted conspiracy to defraud the Minister for Agriculture of £75,000 by placing a BSE infected animal in a herd of cattle.
His son Andrew, of Bandon, pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday to attempting to obtain BSE compensation under false pretences. He also admitted unlawfully moving an animal on to restricted lands.
The cattle dealers had previously denied purchasing a BSE infected animal and placing it in the herd of farmer James Sutton at Kilgariffe, Co Cork, in September 1996.
Sutton previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and was dealt with by the courts.
The "dream scheme" was to remove a tag from a healthy cow in Sutton's herd and place it on a BSE infected cow with a view to having the cattle on the land destroyed in order to receive State compensation.
The scam raised the suspicions of a vet who was called in to inspect the BSE infected animal.
Sentencing was adjourned until February 14th. Judge Brian Michael Curtin granted the defendants bail.
Det Sgt John Colgan of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation said this was the first case of its kind in Europe to reach a successful conclusion.
Investigations into the scam will continue, with garda∅ hoping to track down the people who supplied the BSE animal to Sutton and the Wilsons.