A court heard yesterday that a man who tried to claim insurance compensation had buried his Mercedes in a field using a JCB.
A Navan, Co Meath, fruit and vegetable salesman pleaded guilty to two charges of false claims to gardai and the Guardian Insurance Company. The case was adjourned for three months at the local District Court yesterday.
Brian Cooney (42), of Bohermeen, went to Finglas Garda station after attending last year's all-Ireland football semi-final between Kerry and Cavan and told Garda Maria Gallagher that his eight-year-old Mercedes had just been stolen. Cooney later filed a claim for £9,000 with the Guardian Insurance Company. However, an investigation discovered that he had used a JCB to bury the car outside Kells.
Det Garda John Brosnan told the court: "When we challenged him about the truth of the matter, he was most helpful and brought us to where he had buried the Mercedes.
"It seems they had dug a hole in the ground with a JCB, driven the car in and used the digger to fill the hole in; either the guy who was driving the JCB was no good at it or he deliberately used the JCB bucket to smash the roof of the car in to make it look like it had actually been stolen."
Cooney pleaded guilty to both charges of making false claims. His defence solicitor, Mr Paddy Rogers, said: "He was exceptionally helpful to the authorities; in fact short of not doing it at all he couldn't have been more co-operative. It was a porous crime. There were an awful lot of people involved in the perpetration of it, far too many for it ever to be kept a secret; it probably slipped out where the car actually was through a chance remark in the pub.
"It's his first offence and it certainly doesn't qualify for crime of the century because it was hardly something he was ever going to get away with."
After ordering a probation and welfare report on Cooney, to be prepared for court on October 28th, Judge John Brophy said: "I have heard of criminals burying their swag but it's the first time I've ever encountered somebody who buried a car."