Fisherman agrees to pay €55,000 compensation to Co Wicklow firm over theft of lobsters and crabs

A Co Wicklow fisherman who was alleged to have raided another fisherman’s lobster pots over a period of weeks in 2012, has agreed to pay €55,000 compensation to the owner of the stolen crustaceans.

Paddy MacAuley, of the The Irish Popcorn and Snackfood Company Limited, of Rathnew, Co Wicklow, (Popcorn) sued Mark Byrne in the Circuit Civil Court for €60,000 damages for loss of lobsters and crabs taken from his pots and financial loss through disruption of his business as a fisherman.

Barrister Mary-Jo Butler, counsel for the company, told Judge Jennifer O’Brien that Mr Byrne, of Castle Terrace, Wicklow, had also agreed to the making of a court order against him restraining him from taking lobsters and crabs from her client’s pots or interfering with them.

Ms Butler, who appeared with Gus Cullen of Augustus Cullen Law, told the court that Mr Byrne’s settlement included acceptance of Judge O’Brien making an order directing that he pay the company €55,000.

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She said the agreement included the granting of a permanent stay on the court orders provided Mr Byrne paid €20,000 within six weeks and €15,000 within six months, completion of which would reduce the settlement figure to €35,000.

It was claimed that Mr Byrne, a licensed fisherman who owns two boats, raided a number of the 600 lobster pots the company baited and laid along the coast between Wicklow and Bray. The claim alleged Mr Byrne had sold or disposed of lobsters and crabs for his own benefit.

The company alleged that on numerous dates between March and August 2012 it had observed Mr Byrne tampering with and lifting its pots. It claimed it had been obliged to carry out almost 24-hour surveillance on its pots and send boats out to watch them.

The pots would later be found empty and abandoned “in an entangled manner” away from their original marked GPS positions. Owing to the alleged huge cost of watching the pots, Mr MacAuley’s company abandoned fishing for crabs and lobster for the remainder of the 2012 season and had estimated losses of up to €150,000

The company’s allegations were denied by Mr Byrne, who had put the plaintiff company on full proof of its claims.

At Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court in December 2020, following a plea of guilty to theft of 34 lobsters and 100 crabs, Mr Byrne was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, which was fully suspended on his entering a bond to be of good behavior and keep the peace for two years and to pay the company €5,000 within a period of two years.

Judge Gerard Griffin at that point directed that Mr Byrne be given credit for €1,450 he had already paid and emphasised that this amount was to be taken as a token of remorse and was not to be considered as compensation or part payment in any civil proceedings.

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