Suspended term for illegal knackery

A TIPPERARY businessman who is “on disability” has been given a suspended 12-month prison sentence and fined €17,000 after pleading guilty to running an illegal collection service for animal carcasses.

At Clonmel District Court yesterday, Judge Terence Finn described the behaviour of Pat Gahan (47) as a “blatant contravention of regulations”.

Inspectors from the Department of Agriculture who carried out a series of raids on the premises near the village of Mullinahone were verbally “abused” and greeted by a “belligerent attitude”. On one occasion, a senior civil servant was threatened with being run over by a jeep while two of his colleagues were chased by a man wielding a pitchfork who said he would “stick ‘em” and “burst their f--king faces”.

The court heard Gahan had operated a knackery since 1998 – under licence from the department. However, this was revoked in 2003, following the imposition of strict new EU-inspired rules on the disposal of dead animals which were introduced following the mad cow (BSE) crisis. But Gahan continued to operate the business – collecting dead cattle, sheep, horses and greyhounds from local farmers, and also accepting “deliveries”.

Louis Reardon, a veterinary inspector with the department’s special investigations unit, carried out his first visit to the premises at “half-past midnight” on January 24th, 2007, and found “carcasses in a truck”.

He returned later in the day to find that “a number of farmers had arrived in the yard with carcasses”. Despite warnings, Gahan carried on with the business.

In March 2007, inspectors found “a Landrover Discovery containing a number of bovine carcasses”. A check of the animals’ ear-tags revealed that they had been collected from a farmer in Thurles. Photographs of dead animals were handed to the judge.

Brian Kearney, counsel for Gahan, pleaded with Judge Finn not to impose a custodial sentence. He said Gahan had “made attempts to upgrade his facilities” to comply with the new legislation but “ran into difficulties and the plan floundered”.

Mr Kearney told the judge his client “suffers from anxiety and panic-type attacks” and was “on medication which may have had a lot to do with his belligerent attitude to the inspectors” – for which he apologised.  He said Gahan was also afflicted by “debilitating back problems which prevent him from holding down a job and is on disability”.

Judge Finn said he had “noted the circumstances”, but pointed out Gahan had defiantly “continued to trade” even after the first visit by the inspectors. The judge bound Gahan to the peace in his own bond of €3,000; imposed a one-year prison sentence, which he suspended; and imposed fines totalling €17,000.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Reardon said he and his department colleagues were “delighted” with the outcome and “a lot of work” had gone into the investigation.