Tipperary brothers in court for handling stolen property

Two Tipperary brothers have appeared in court in connection with the seizure of stolen power tools worth over €50,000.

Jason O’Donoghue of Toreen, Bothar na Mona Road in Thurles and Darren O’Donoghue of Croke Gardens in Thurles appeared before Dublin District Court today.

They were arrested on Saturday night after two vehicles, one of which had earlier been reported stolen, were intercepted at Dublin Port after arriving from the UK.

Searches by Gardaí from the South Eastern region, the Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau and the Special Crime Task Force discovered a large quantity of stolen industrial power tools and gardening machinery.

Investigations are now on-going with the UK authorities to identify the owners of the property seized, which has an estimated value of over €50,000.

38 year old Jason O’Donoghue was charged with handling stolen property.

His brother Darren – aged 29 – was charged with handling stolen property, being in possession of false registration plates, and allowing himself to be carried in a stolen vehicle.

Both were granted bail by Judge John Cheatle on condition that they reside at the addresses they supplied; obey a curfew from 10pm to 7am; sign on daily at Thurles Garda station; do not associate with each other; and provide a mobile phone number to Gardaí on which they can be contacted 24 hours a day.

They also had to pay a cash surety of €500 each.

Legal aid was refused as Gardaí believe the accused both have access to large sums of cash.

The pair are due back in court on June 26th.