A former senior Department of Agriculture official who corruptly facilitated the export of British calves as Irish animals to Italy and Spain has been jailed for 12 months by Judge Elizabeth Dunne.
Det Supt John Gallagher said Colm Fox's illegal activities had the potential to destroy the State's live cattle export trade. The animals were exported through Greenore Port, Co Louth. British cattle exports to Europe were then banned, Mr Paul O'Higgins SC, prosecuting, told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Fox (60), of Church Street, Skerries, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to three charges, and a further two charges were dropped. He admitted that he corruptly accepted £3,000 from a Dundalk man as an inducement to provide stamped international animal transport certificates issued by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry on or about January 10th, 1994.
He also admitted unlawful possession of official stamped certificates on January 10th, 1994, and to fraudulently converting a cheque for £424.50 to his own use between March 11th and March 14th, 1994.
Judge Dunne imposed 12-month sentences for the £3,000 inducement and the unlawful possession of certificates charges. She suspended the final six months of these sentences and imposed a three-month concurrent sentence for the conversion.
Det Supt Gallagher said Fox qualified as a vet in 1963 and joined the Department in 1964. He continued there until he was suspended in 1996. He had since resigned. Fox was the superintendent veterinary inspector in Co Louth, based at North Quay, Drogheda, in 1994. He was on a salary of about £41,000.
Suspicions were aroused when confidential information was received by Det Sgt Gerry Nohilly, of Mullingar, who contacted the Department. Det Supt Gallagher said a surveillance operation was then set in motion. It involved gardai and Department officials, and on January 10th, 1994, Fox's car was followed to the Monasterboice Inn, near Drogheda, where he met a man from Dundalk.
Fox was seen to take documents from his briefcase and hand them to the man and also give him property from the boot of the car. All of this was recorded on video. Both men were intercepted by gardai. Stamped international transport certificates, ear tags and the £3,000 cheque were recovered.
The Dundalk man conceded he paid £3,000 to Fox for the certificates and the tags. An official stamp was found in Fox's possession.
The fraudulent conversion involved a cheque paid over to An Bord Bia as fees by a midland company but which Fox paid to one of his own accounts. The company was innocent in the matter.
Det Supt Gallagher said Fox did not co-operate with the investigation.
Mr Eamonn Leahy, defending, said Fox was left with substantial debts following a disastrous business venture and had to sell his family home. His indebtedness escalated after a car accident. All this was at a time when his now grown children were entering third-level education.
Mrs Catherine Fox said life had been "a nightmare" for the family since her husband was charged. She had to sell their home for the second time to try to keep the family together while he worked for "a pittance" in England as a vet.
Judge Dunne said she had to view the case as a very serious breach of trust. While she had sympathy for his wife, the court could not avoid jailing Fox.