A MEATH man accused of handling €250,000 woth of stolen whiskey said he thought the day’s work of unloading the alcohol from the lorry was “100 per cent legitimate”. Stephen Kearney (24) denied in evidence that he knew anything was “dodgy” about the job he was asked to do.
Mr Kearney (24), of The Old Mill, Ratoath, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to handling or possessing the goods at Unit 5A, First Avenue, Cookstown Industrial Estate on April 30th, 2009. It was day three of the trial.
Mr Kearney, who is unemployed, told Alan Toal, defending, that he was “offered the day’s work” to help unload a lorry through a friend of his cousin. “My cousin’s friend contacted me the day before and asked me to help unload the lorry at Cookstown Industrial Estate and he just said it would be a day’s work,” he said.
He said he drove to Cookstown Industrial Estate at about 7am, found the unit was opened up and walked in to where he met his cousin’s friend. He described how he was on the forks of the forklift trying to unjam the unit’s shutter when gardaí rushed in with guns and placed handcuffs on him and his cousin’s friend. “I didn’t know the whiskey was stolen until gardaí told me it was,” he said. “I didn’t ask at the time if it was stolen as I didn’t suspect it. I was just doing a day’s work.”
He denied being reckless and said: “I just turned up to do a day’s work as I needed the money as I had a child on the way.” Under cross-examination he denied that he took a chance and said he “thought it was 100 per cent legitimate”. The trial continues before Judge Desmond Hogan and a jury.