A former taxi company owner who used cars stolen in Belfast in his business has received a three-year suspended sentence and has been fined €5,000 by Judge Desmond Hogan.
Daniel Leahy (49), who ran Taxi Management Services Limited, at Westland Row in Dublin, was arrested following an investigation into a number of cars stolen on both sides of the border. Ten of the 26 vehicles seized from his company had been reported stolen within an eight-month period in 1995.
Det Supt Noel White told Mr Paul O'Higgins SC, prosecuting, that gardaí also found documents, including forged taxi discs, insurance certificates, and a list of taxi plate numbers that were legitimate, but Leahy was operating two cars under the one plate in a number of incidences.
Leahy, a married father-of-two, fled to Spain before he was due to stand trial at the end of 1996, but was arrested in July 1999 on other matters while abroad and remained in custody until he was returned home unescorted on foot of extradition warrants last November.
Leahy, from Weston Park, Lucan, voluntarily contacted gardaí when he arrived back and pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three sample counts of handling stolen property between January and August 1995.
Judge Hogan said Leahy had pleaded guilty to serious matters, but because of mitigating factors, such as his guilty plea, some very fair evidence from the gardaí and the time he had spent in custody in Spain, he would not send him to jail.
"It seems to me he got into something not realising how serious it was and it turned out to be greater than he was able to anticipate or control in the end. He was in over his head," he said.
Judge Hogan added that the fact Leahy voluntarily contacted the gardaí after spending time in custody had also to go greatly to his favour.
Det Supt White said that only 10 of the 26 cars seized from the premises rented by Leahy were found to be stolen when examined at the carriage office in Dublin Castle.
Leahy rented the taxi plates from legitimate owners, but had cars with identical characteristics working under each one. When one car broke down it was easy to slot a substitute in its place.
Det Supt White added that the drivers were registered as the car owners so they could drive them but they were all unaware they were stolen. Leahy made no admissions after his arrest, but one of his thumb prints was found on a list of numbers.
Det Supt White told Mr Michael O'Higgins SC, for Leahy, that it was a foolish enterprise because the cars were sent straight out on to the streets. Leahy got in over his head and it appears that the men who were supplying the cars were directing things.
Mr O'Higgins said his client's taxi company was in financial trouble at the time but he had changed his life around since he came home from Spain. He was a bit of a Walter Mitty character in that he had a tendency to be unrealistic.
He was now working for a courier company and garda evidence was that he was unlikely to come before a court again. He worked in the insurance industry for over 20 years prior to setting up his taxi business and was a well respected member of that profession.