An alleged drugs baron and millionaire crime boss, Mr George "The Penguin" Mitchell, on trial in the Netherlands for a £5 million computer supplies theft, has described himself to Dutch judges as the respectable director of an import-export business.
Named yesterday during his trial at Haarlem District Court, near Amsterdam, as the mastermind behind the plot to steal a valuable consignment of computer parts en route from the Co Kildare factory of Hewlett-Packard to a Dutch customer, Mr Mitchell said he did not wish to say anything about his alleged role in the affair.
Mr Mitchell's Dutch lawyer claimed his client was "set up" by the Irish authorities who were acting illegally.
The arrest of Mr Mitchell and another Irishman, the lorry driver, Mr Thomas Massey; together with three Dutch nationals followed Operation Wedgewood, a long-running Garda undercover operation to halt the spate of hijackings of heavy goods lorries.
Mr Mitchell, who is believed to have fled Ireland over two years ago because of an IRA death threat, claimed he came to Holland because he was unable to find a job at home.
He told the court that while serving a five-year prison sentence he furthered his education doing business studies and accountancy. Mr Mitchell, who Garda sources say was worth more than £10 million when he left Ireland during the crackdown on organised crime, added that he started an import-export company in Holland.
Mr Alm Welschen, the Dutch public prosecutor, said Mr Mitchell was at all the crucial places during the planning and execution of the crime. He made dozens of calls from mobile phones and was making sure everything went well. His role was that of the ringleader. "You elected to remain silent because you have so much to hide," he told him, calling for Mr Mitchell to be jailed for three years for theft and conspiring with others to commit the robbery.
The court was told that two of the Dutch nationals on trial admitted Mr Mitchell recruited them to take the lorry to a secret location and unload it.
Mr Mitchell, who has an address at Woodfarm Acres, Palmerstown, is the subject of a High Court judgment of £103,350 secured last month by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
Named in the Dail as a crime boss and described at a court hearing as being known for complicity in unlawful killings and drugs importation, he was assessed as owing the monies to the Revenue for unpaid VAT and interest.
Mr Thomas Massey (38), the second Irishman on trial, is similarly accused of theft and conspiracy to steal.
He said that over a long period he was approached by certain people in Dublin and asked to go along with the plan to steal a consignment of computer supplies that he would be transporting to the Continent.
Mr Massey told judges that the first contacts were made last year through a friend to whom he used to sell duty-free wine and beer after returning from runs on the Continent.
This person brought another man to a rendezvous who told him they were going to steal the lorry and its consignment with or without his co-operation.
"I was in a daze. I couldn't believe it was serious, but later it became clear there was a very real threat to my own security and that of my family if I refused to go along with it: they knew an awful lot about me and my wife," he told the court.
Mr Massey, a former Meath hurler, told of meetings with a man wearing a balaclava in a Lucan car-park in December and early March and of gifts amounting to £1,500 which he received.
Pressed by judges about financial rewards, he admitted he was told he would be paid around £40,000 for allowing his load to be stolen.
As the presiding judge, Mr T.S. Roell, read out glowing character references. Mr Massey broke down.
"I should have said `No' at the start and gone to my employers and the police," he said.
The Dutch public prosecutor described Mr Massey as a willing accomplice in the crime who was dancing to the criminals' tune.
He said Mr Massey went along with the plot, allowed his lorry to be driven through the Netherlands while he hid behind the curtains of his sleeping compartment and even agreed to stage an act afterwards for the Dutch police if Mr Mitchell and other members of the gang carried it off.
A verdict will be delivered on September 11th.