A roundup of today's other home news in brief
Accused deny dioxin oil contamination
A businessman and a company alleged by a Co Wexford company to have contaminated its animal feed with dioxins by supplying it with defective fuel oil, leading to a recall in late 2008 of all Irish pork products, has denied in the High Court that the oil was defective, writes Mary Carolan.
Gerard Tierney and Newtown Lodge Ltd have claimed the contamination over which they are being sued by Millstream Recycling Ltd (MRL) was not due to defective oil. They claim Millstream was told by a Northern Ireland firm in summer 2008 there was nothing wrong with the oil. What was at issue was a “system” used by Millstream Power Ltd (MPL) at its premises in Fenagh, Carlow.
Alternatively, if the oil was contaminated, Mr Tierney and Newtown claim that is no fault of theirs as, they allege, the oil was supplied to MPL by another company, O’Neill Fuels Ltd, Annaghmore Hill, Coalisland, Co Tyrone.
Mr Tierney, Selandia, Newtown Park Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin, and Newtown Lodge, with registered offices in Fairview, Dublin, of which he is a director, are both being sued by MRL, of Clonmahon, Bunclody, over the contamination, and they yesterday secured an order from Mr Justice Peter Charleton joining O’Neill Fuels Ltd as a third party to the proceedings.
Cocaine burst in man’s stomach
A man who presented himself at the Mater hospital “at death’s door” after one of the 93 cocaine pellets he had swallowed ruptured in his stomach has been given an eight year sentence.
Eric Nelstein (35) told gardaí he was on holiday in Ireland and had found the pellets, valued at €60,633, under the seat of a bus while travelling from Belfast to Dublin.
He said he swallowed them so he could bring them home.
Nelstein, of Oosterstraat, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of the cocaine for sale or supply on February 8th, 2009.
He denied a Garda suggestion that he had consumed the pellets before he came to Ireland.
Judge Katherine Delahunt noted it was more difficult for a foreign national to serve time in jail and that Nelstein had expressed remorse. She imposed an eight year sentence, backdated to the date of arrest.
Bid to blame ESB for flooding denied
Cork city manager Joe Gavin yesterday denied that he had attempted to blame the ESB for flooding in Cork city last November, and expressed surprise and disappointment at comments to that effect by ESB chief executive Pádraig McManus.
“I was very surprised and disappointed to read the comments made by Mr McManus, CEO of the ESB, at a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment yesterday,” said Mr Gavin in a statement issued yesterday.
Mr McManus said Mr Gavin’s report on the flooding last December criticised the ESB and contained inaccuracies. “The most unfortunate point about the report was the efforts to try to throw the whole issue on to the ESB . . . I think that’s sad.” Mr Gavin said that he would be seeking a full transcript of Mr McManus’s submission.
Driver accused of fraud trial collapses
The trial of a truck driver accused of making false tax return claims has collapsed at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Judge Frank O’Donnell directed the jury to return a not guilty verdict after hearing submissions from prosecution and defence counsel on the fraud charges against Terrence Downey (37), Tallaght, Co Dublin.
Judge O’Donnell said that the prosecution had failed to prove Mr Downey was not entitled to the five cheque payments of more than €41,000 from the Revenue Commissioners and without this evidence the case could not go before the jury.