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Extra.ie
22-07-2025
- Extra.ie
Convicted killer who never had a job spent €100k on grandiose family home facelift
A convicted killer who was previously jailed for 'feud-related' offences and has never had a job spent €100,000 carrying out 'grandiose' renovations on his family home in Limerick, a court has heard. A sentencing hearing for Richard Treacy, 36, of Downey Street, Garryowen, Co. Limerick, heard yesterday, that the house where the defendant lived with his partner and two children was purchased by another party in 2014 and various renovation works were carried out over a number of years. Lawyers for Treacy objected to the term 'feud' being used by a prosecuting garda in relation to the defendant's previous convictions. A convicted killer who was previously jailed for 'feud-related' offences and has never had a job spent €100,000 carrying out 'grandiose' renovations on his family home in Limerick, a court has heard. Pic: Ross Mahon/Shutterstock Defence counsel Lorcan Connolly SC suggested a detective garda had gone 'offpiste' and that this was done in an effort to 'colour' the judges' view of his client. He made an application for the three-judge panel to recuse themselves and for another panel to be introduced, but this was rejected by presiding judge Karen O'Connor, who said the judges were 'all very experienced' and that they were not of the view that there was a problem in them continuing on. Treacy previously pleaded guilty that he, between January 1, 2014, and January 12, 2021, knowing or being reckless as to whether renovation work carried out at his home address was the proceeds of criminal conduct, did disguise the true source of the property. Lawyers for Treacy objected to the term 'feud' being used by a prosecuting garda in relation to the defendant's previous convictions. Pic: KarlM Photography/Shutterstock The offence is contrary to section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010. Detective Garda Ronan O'Reilly told prosecution counsel Fiona Murphy SC that on June 17, 2020, gardaí searched the house at Garryowen and found £3,900 of sterling and €4,000 in a sock drawer of the bedroom. Two further quantities of cash were found in a kitchen cupboard. Treacy told gardaí that another person was the registered owner of the house and that renovation works were carried out on the property. He said a family member gave him the €4,000 for an extension on the house. A sentencing hearing for Richard Treacy, 36, of Downey Street, Garryowen, Co. Limerick, heard yesterday, that the house where the defendant lived with his partner and two children was purchased by another party in 2014 and various renovation works were carried out over a number of years. Pic: Mark Gusev/Shutterstock No explanation was given for the sterling, and Treacy stated that the two quantities, amounting to over €1,000, found in the kitchen were from his savings and his dole money. Det Gda O'Reilly said Social Welfare and Revenue were contacted in relation to Treacy's work history and confirmed there was no record of him ever having been employed. He confirmed to counsel that a guilty plea was entered by Treacy on the first day of the trial, which was expected to last two weeks, and it was accepted that €100,000 had been spent on renovating the house. Det Gda O'Reilly said Treacy lives at the property with his partner and children. He told the court Treacy has ten previous convictions, including for manslaughter, dangerous driving causing serious harm and violent disorder. Referencing the violent disorder offence, Det Gda O'Reilly said the defendant and some of his relations got involved in a violent disorder incident 'with a feuding other family in the city'. Regarding the manslaughter conviction, Garda O'Reilly said this was 'another feud-related incident'. He said the deceased was a relation of a high-end criminal in the city. Lorcan Connolly SC, for Treacy, said this 'additional information' was unnecessary. He said Treacy's last conviction was nine years ag,o and this coincided with the arrival of his children. Garda O'Reilly agreed the subject matter on the indictment was in relation to the renovation and the works were done over a number of years. He confirmed no charges were brought in relation to the sums of money found in the house. Treacy is a nephew of Limerick gang leader Christy Keane. Mr Connolly said his client has an active role in his children's upbringing and has been a positive influence in their lives. He asked the court to consider the amount of money involved. He said the house was a 'relatively modest' home in a council estate. Mr Connolly said one of the key factors when it comes to a money-laundering offence is the amount involved. He said this wasn't a 'standard case' where gardaí found €100,000 or €200,000 in a shoebox. Judge O'Connor adjourned the matter to October 20.
Sunday World
16-07-2025
- Sunday World
Community development worker admits possessing €62,100 in crime cash
Sifoso Mpobole of Athlone, Co Westmeath, appeared at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court A community development worker has pleaded guilty to having over €60,000 in crime proceeds in Co Westmeath last year. Sifoso Mpobole, 38, of Alverno Drive, Willow Park, Athlone, Co Westmeath, appeared at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court to be arraigned. Father of four, Mpobole was charged with possession of €62,100 in cash at Dublin Road, Mullingar, Co Westmeath on March 4, 2024, while knowing that or being reckless as to whether or not the money was the proceeds of criminal conduct. He replied guilty when the charge was put to him. The charge is under section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010. Judge Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin acceded to a request from defence counsel Andrea Callan to seek a pre-sanction probation report. She adjourned the case for sentencing in November and remanded Mpobole on continuing bail.
The Herald Scotland
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Sometimes what communities really need from councils is bravery
Schools across Scotland have shut their doors for the summer, but not all will reopen for the autumn term. If you have followed any of The Herald's education coverage in recent months, you have read stories about council strategies for mothballing schools and nurseries and the Scottish Government guidance which sets the rules for this process. Mothballing refers to the temporary closure of a school (or nursery), and local authorities are required to review this decision at least once a year. Mothballing is intended to provide schools with a lifeline. Instead, it is often used as a way for councils to prolong the inevitable. As a result, painful decisions become more painful and drag on for years. The vast majority of mothballed schools never reopen, to the point that campaigners have come to describe mothballing as 'closure by stealth'. Read more: It is not difficult to see why this is the case. Technically, local authorities are only allowed to mothball a school when the roll has fallen to zero, or very close to zero, according to guidance for the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. At first glance, a recent decision regarding Fountainhall Primary School in the Scottish Borders Council appears to be a textbook case for mothballing. On closer inspection, however, it proves to be a better example of a council trying to soften the blow — and likely deflect some heat — by kicking the can down the road on a likely closure. Between 2020 and 2024, Fountainhall's roll fell from 24 to five pupils, with a total capacity of 50. There was only one child enrolled for the start of the 2025-2026 academic year. Fountainhall fits some of the criteria established in the mothballing guidance: it is only for schools with a 'very low' roll where education for the pupils is 'not presently viable.' However, there is another important criterion that the Scottish Government guidance outlines. Local authorities should only mothball schools when the roll is low and there is good reason to believe that the low roll is only temporary. According to the guidance, the 'and' is crucial and it is clear about why. Even though permanent closure is more final than mothballing, it triggers a statutory consultation process that involves extensive community engagement, culminating in approval from the Scottish Government. This consultation process places additional requirements on local authorities and, in theory, provides more protections for parents and community members to have their voices heard. An important side note: councils love to use the word 'consultation,' but they do not usually mean this type of statutory consultation. What they usually mean is engagement, not the legal definition of consultation found in the 2010 Act. I like to think of it as the difference between a consultation and a Consultation. The mothballing process requires consultation, not Consultation, and councils have much more freedom to decide what that looks like. This game of semantics frustrates parents and rural campaigners, because the guidance explicitly states that mothballing should not be a way to deprive communities of their legal right to a Consultation about the potential closure of their school. However, because mothballing often leads to closure, parents feel that the ultimate Consultation isn't an accurate reflection of the situation. If a school has been 'temporarily closed' for one, two, three years, is it any surprise that few parents asked about enrolling their children or considered moving to the area? This means that when the legal Consultation on closure finally rolls around, the picture is skewed. Interest has fallen off. Parents who had battled the original mothballing have since been forced to move on. Their children attend schools in other communities, and a fight for another transition is different from a fight to keep children in place. All of this is why guidance states that if a council wants to mothball a school, it must be more likely than not that the school will be viable in the long term. Otherwise, the council should initiate the more formal process of permanent closure. And yet, during the recent debate at Scottish Borders Council (SBC) over whether to mothball Fountainhall, the language made it clear that the assumption was that the school would not become viable in the future. The council papers were explicit: 'The Fountainhall school roll is projected to be 1 from August, which is an out of catchment placement. 'Based on this, and considering future planning and migration, Officers project that the number of children will not significantly increase in the coming years within the Fountainhall catchment area.' If the school is being mothballed due to low enrollment, and the council has no expectation that the enrollment will increase, then the question should be about closure, not mothballing. In their objections to the mothballing decision, a group of parents seized on this. In a letter to councillors on the eve of the vote, they called for a statutory consultation on closure to begin "without delay". "Fountainhall deserves proper consultation and legal safeguards – not administrative shortcuts that carry permanent consequences." On the surface, this sounds counterproductive for a group that is fighting to save their school. However, what the parents recognised is that the permanent closure process should provide them with more protections and impose greater oversight on the council's ultimate decision. If nothing else, it offers parents a sense that the democratic process is being followed. As many have told me, an unwanted decision is easier to swallow if there is trust that decision-makers were brave enough to take the hard way out. Instead, another community is looking at unknown years of uncertainty, likely followed by a painful trek towards an even more painful conclusion.
Irish Daily Mirror
30-06-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Date set for money laundering trial for ex-Irish hockey player Catriona Carey
The money laundering trial of former Ireland hockey international Caitriona Carey is expected to last four to six weeks and will go ahead in January 2027 before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The 47-year-old, with an address at Rochford Manor, Graiguecullen, Co. Carlow, is charged with three offences contrary to Section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, one over a 12-month period in 2019, one in 2020 and one in 2021. It is alleged that in each case, she engaged in converting / transferring / handling / acquiring / possessing / using the proceeds of criminal conduct. All three counts related to funds in a bank account in the name Careysfort Asset Estates Ltd at Wise Europe SA. Ms Carey appeared before Judge Orla Crowe on Monday when her barrister, Kevin Roche BL, said she was seeking a trial date. He told the judge that the trial would take four to six weeks. Judge Crowe set a trial date of January 27, 2027 and bailed her to that date. Two co-accused were also before the court. John Steadmond, 48, of Rossminogue, Craanford, Gorey, Co Wexford, and Paddy Maher, 57, of Glenmalure Gun Club, Glenmalure, Co. Wicklow are each charged with 17 related charges, including that they unlawfully acted as solicitors when not qualified to do so. The bulk of the other charges against the two men relate to inducing a number of people to pay deposits, having falsely represented that Careysfort Asset Estates Ltd was in a position to secure finance for distressed mortgage holders, with the intention of making gains for themselves or others, or causing loss to another. Each of their barristers said that there was disclosure outstanding in their cases and asked for an arraignment date at the end of the month. Judge Crowe bailed them both until July 29 next. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
Irish Examiner
19-06-2025
- Irish Examiner
Cobh man to be sentenced for laundering €672k and owning a house boat from proceeds of crime
A Cobh man who was caught in Dublin laundering the proceeds of criminal conduct totalling €672,000 in cash and having an €86,000 house boat on the river at East Ferry in Cork will be sentenced on June 24. 39-year-old Gerard Hayes with an address at College Lawn, College Manor, Cobh, County Cork, had the case against him listed at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday. Judge Helen Boyle adjourned the case for sentencing of the accused at a later date. The defendant pleaded guilty to charges including the possession of cocaine for sale or supply and possession of large quantities of ammunition and silencers for firearms. He also admitted at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to charges related to drugs and money-laundering. The most serious charge states that on February 20, 2024, at Mespil Road, Dublin 4, he did engage in converting/transferring/handling/acquiring/possessing/using property that was the proceeds of criminal conduct, namely cash to the value of €672,000 while knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether or not the said property was the proceeds of crime, contrary to the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing) Act 2010. Defence senior counsel Elizabeth O'Connell previously applied for a probation report and a prison governor's report in advance of sentencing. 'There is a recent addiction issue and there has been engagement with addiction services. The case involved a considerable amount of cash. I believe it (probation report) would be of assistance,' Ms O'Connell said. Judge Boyle acceded to the application and remanded the accused in custody for sentencing. As well as the Mespil Road money-laundering charge there was a charge on the same date related to his home in Cobh involving €10,050. A third money-laundering charge related to €450 at Ballynoe, Cobh, on May 5, 2024. On May 5 also he had cocaine for sale or supply at Ballynoe and permitted the possession of cocaine in his car. Another money-laundering charge was admitted by Mr Hayes in respect of €62,800 in cash at Ballydaniel, Ballymore, Cobh, on February 10 last year. He also admitted counts related to cocaine dealing. There were also multiple counts related to ammunition and silencers for firearms. Finally, on February 12, 2024, at Ballynacorra River, East Ferry, Midleton, he admitted possession of proceeds of criminal conduct in the form of a boat, including contents and engine, with a value of €86,000. An outline of the facts of the case that gave rise to the total of 23 charges will be given by the investigating member of An Garda Síochána at the sentencing hearing.
