At Sligo Circuit Court on 3 November 2020, Thomas Cullen (56) of 12 Shannon Grove Apartments, Hartley, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, appeared before Judge Comerford for his sentence hearing in relation to two stolen tractors and falsified documents.

Judge Comerford imposed an 18-month sentence in relation to possession of a stolen New Holland T7.235 tractor and a John Deere 6430 tractor, 18 months in relation to deception and two years in relation to using a false instrument, all to run concurrently.

He suspended the sentence in full for three years on condition that the accused enter into a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour. The remaining counts were taken into consideration.

Evidence

Sergeant Gerard Murphy of Ballymote Garda Station gave evidence in relation to the complex investigation, arrest and detention of Mr Cullen, while Detective Garda Eugene O'Sullivan, attached to the Garda stolen vehicle unit, gave a detailed account of the sophisticated nature of the enterprise.

This involved the registration of the two stolen cloned tractors and subsequent international enquiries with colleagues in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain and the USA.

NCT

The incidents originally came to light in February 2016 when staff at the NCT Centre, Carraroe, Co Sligo, noted that a John Deere 6430 tractor presented for re-registration by an innocent farmer had previously been registered at the same centre.

Gardaí established that this tractor was genuine, leading them to suspect that a similar John Deere tractor registered a few months previously by Thomas Cullen was cloned.

Investigating gardaí established that this was one of two tractors registered by Cullen, the second being a New Holland T7.235 tractor which was presented with the identity of a similar New Holland tractor registered and owned by an equipment company in Dublin, Ohio, USA.

Recovery

Gardaí subsequently recovered the cloned New Holland tractor, which had been sold on to a farmer in Rockcorry, Co Monaghan, for cash.

The cloned John Deere 6430 tractor was eventually recovered from a dealer in Spain, having been sold at Ganley Craige Auctions in Kildare shortly after registration to Agritrac Exports, a John Deere dealer in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, which subsequently sold it on to the dealer in Spain.

Gardaí established that all of the supporting documents presented with the tractors were false.

Gardaí met Thomas Cullen in March 2016 in an unrelated matter and he admitted registering the two tractors for people who were "dodgy and he was afraid to identify.

The New Holland tractor was identified as reported stolen from Declan Quinn Farms of Cookstown, Co Tyrone, in July 2015 and was valued at £55,000. The tractor was returned to Royal & Sun Alliance, which had paid out on the claim.

The cloned John Deere 6420 was recovered from a dealer in Spain.

The John Deere 6430 tractor was identified as stolen from Bulrush Horticulture Ltd, Magherafelt, Co Derry, and was valued at £53,640 and was subsequently returned to the owner.

Det Garda O'Sullivan also stated that while the culprits in this case had spent a considerable amount of time and effort cloning these tractors and generating false documents, it still did not deter or prevent the gardaí from identifying them.

Most modern tractors are fitted with the CESAR and datatag security markings, which has fast-tracked and facilitated the police's identification of stolen vehicles, plant and agricultural machinery.

Other investigations

In an unrelated matter, detectives from the stolen vehicle unit recovered a John Deere 6320 tractor near Carbury, Co Kildare, on Thursday last.

The tractor and its attachments, valued at €40,000, had been stolen from a local farmer in October 2018. Enquries are ongoing.