A DETECTIVE convicted of selling an engine from a stolen car, seized by gardai, to a colleague has been remanded for sentence by Judge Dominic Lynch on March 19th.
John Ryan showed no emotion as the verdict was read out at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The jury took just under two hours to reach a unanimous guilty verdict after a nine-day trial.
Ryan (36), of Newtown Park, Blessington, Co Wicklow, was found guilty of obtaining £260 from Garda Patrick Normile by falsely pretending that he owned a Nissan Micra engine on or about August 1994.
The engine was from a car stolen in England which ended up at Stackstown Motors, Rathfarnham.
Gardai seized parts from Stackstown Motors around February 1993, and the engine was being held in Rathfarnham Garda station as evidence against a criminal whom the jury heard Ryan had business dealings with.
The court heard that Ryan sold on the engine in August 1994 to Sgt (then Det Garda) Patrick Normile who was acting as an intermediary for two other colleagues.
The jury was told that Stackstown Motors was fronted and controlled by criminals and that Ryan bought and sold cars from it.
A detective sergeant said he was "horrified" when he learned Ryan was associating with Mr Martin Wallace, who ran Stackstown Motors and who agreed in evidence he had a criminal record.
Ryan denied that he also bought a car from the Dublin criminal, John Traynor, and said he did not know why a member of Traynor's family was listed as a previous owner of one of his cars.
In his evidence, Ryan said he was being "set up" by other gardai and added: "It's outrageous what's happened to me, I've never seen anything like it." He was remanded on continuing bail for sentence.