A farmer who bought a stolen tractor for €16,000 and then insured it for its true value, close to €60,000, received a three-year suspended sentence and a €15,000 fine for handling stolen property, at Mallow Court on Monday of this week.

The penalties were imposed on James O’Regan, aged 51, of Curraglass, Castlecor, Mallow, Co Cork, by Judge David Riordan. A jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court had already convicted him of handling the stolen John Deere 6630 tractor the week before.

James O’Regan said that he paid €16,000 for the tractor to a person he met at the Island Gate Tavern, in Cork, in November 2011. The tractor, a 2011 model, was five months old when it was stolen from Yorkshire farmer David Barley, in October 2011. A second tractor, stolen from the same English farm, has not been recovered to date.

James O’Regan never registered the John Deere tractor, which came to the attention of the Gardaí while they were accompanying Department of Agriculture officials to James O’Regan’s farm, in January 2012. Garda Sgt. Eileen Kelly told the court that she accompanied Department of Agriculture officers to the defendant’s farm on January 30, 2012 and noted the chassis number of the tractor.

Following further investigation she discovered that it had been stolen in England. She told the court that the insurers of the tractor had paid out £54,000 (roughly €64,000) to the original owner following the theft.

The Gardaí are warning farmers to be careful when being offered good value tractor and machinery deals. Tractor and machinery theft continues to be a significant problem on farms and for farm machinery dealers.

The message remains true, if you are getting an incredible bargain then it is simply incredible and can’t be trusted, according to Garda sources. Garda Eugene O’Sullivan of the Garda Stolen Vehicle unit advised farmers to check with local machinery dealers using serial numbers of machines, if offered these types of so-called bargains.