By Fiona Ferguson
A business man who stole an order of alcohol valued at over €20,000 may be ordered to do community service in lieu of a prison sentence.
Stephen Kavanagh (50), who was in substantial debt, placed an order using an alias raising suspicions within the company. Gardai mounted a surveillance operation to catch Kavanagh.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Kavanagh committed the offence “out of financial necessity” as he owed money to “serious individuals” and could see no way out.
Kavanagh of Iveagh Trust, Kevin Streer, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty to theft of cases of alcohol valued at €21,000 euro at Belgard Road, Tallaght, on September 20, 2023.
He has 29 previous convictions, including a previous theft charge in 2022 with an identical modus operandi. He was on bail for that offence when he committed this theft.
Passing sentence on Tuesday, Judge Orla Crowe accepted that Kavanagh pleaded guilty to the offence and has not come to garda attention since.
She said she felt he had skills that could be of use if he was “willing to undertake work in the community”.
Judge Crowe set a headline sentence of two years in prison but reduced this to 18 months.
She adjourned the case to February 4, 2025 to allow for the preparation of a report for the Probation Service in order to determine if Kavanagh is suitable for community service.
Judge Crowe said should Kavanagh be deemed suitable she would order that he carry out 240 hours in the community in lieu of an 18 month prison sentence.
Detective Garda Stephen Neilan told Simon Matthews BL, prosecuting at a previous sentence hearing, that suspicions were raised by a drinks company about a particular order placed over the phone and Gardai put a surveillance operation in place on the day it was due to be collected.
A white transit van driven by the accused arrived and the order was collected by a second vehicle, a flat bed truck. Both vehicles were kept under observation and followed to an industrial park in Coolock.
Gda Neilan said gardai made themselves known as the alcohol was in the process of being unloaded by Kavanagh and the second individual. Kavanagh was arrested and the alcohol returned to the company.
The investigation found Kavanagh had bought a mobile top-up for the phone used to place the order under an alias – “Mark O’Reilly.”
The company was not a financial loss and there was no victim impact statement in court.
Sarah Jane O’Callaghan BL, defending, said Kavanagh had been a successful businessman whose business had gone into liquation and “things went awry.” He also had health difficulties and suffered the loss of his mother which affected him deeply.
She said he was in substantial debt and people who lent him money made threats against him. She told the court Kavanagh had not appreciated the type of people he had gotten involved with, who were “very serious individuals you don’t mess with.”
Ms O’Callaghan said Kavanagh’s family had no idea this was happening and can’t believe he is before the court for a second time. She said there were no addiction issues and this was done purely out of financial necessity as he could see no way out.
Counsel said he had no trappings of wealth and was able to do constructive work. She asked the court to consider a community service report, saying her client wished to give back to society.