TWO GALWAY brothers have been jailed for nine years for membership of a criminal organisation, marking the first sentence under new anti-gang legislation.
Judge Martin Nolan praised the work of the Garda investigation, known as Operation Foolscap, which was headed by Det Insp Gerard Roche. It resulted in the arrest of Eddie and Michael O’Loughlin and 10 associates.
The O’Loughlin brothers were originally charged with organising a criminal organisation but entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of membership after two weeks at trial. They faced a maximum of 15 years in prison under the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009.
Michael (32) of Rahylin Glebe, Ballybane, and Eddie (28) of Rockfield Park, Rahoon, both pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of a criminal organisation in the Galway area between February 10th and June 1st, 2010.
Det Insp Roche told Dominic McGinn SC, prosecuting, that gardaí set up an operation to target organised criminal activity in Galway city in September 2009.
He said there were about 13 to 15 people involved in the gang with the O’Loughlins.
After obtaining warrants under new legislation, audio devices were placed inside a Toyota Avensis used by Eddie O’Loughlin and a Ford Mondeo used by Michael O’Loughlin.
A surveillance team was set up so gardaí would know who was in each car at all times and be able to identify the voices in the conversations recorded.
Det Insp Roche told the judge gardaí successfully recorded more than 110 days of conversations relating to the planned criminal activities of the group.
Gardaí were then able to stop four burglaries planned by the O’Loughlins, and three separate caches of drugs were seized. This led to the arrest and conviction of the brothers’ accomplices.
Gardaí went to the suspected targets of the burglaries and advised them not to have cash on their premises and to take appropriate steps to protect themselves.
Gardaí also heard the O’Loughlins gave “shopping lists” to their associates for some of the burglaries which included bleach to get rid of DNA traces, expanding foam, lubricating oil and sports bags. The men were advised by the brothers not to buy all the items in the one shop and not to store them together to avoid arousing suspicion.
Det Insp Roche said after the third offence was foiled by gardaí the O’Loughlins started to get paranoid because “everything they seemed to be doing seemed to be going wrong”.
The burglary of a local hair salon resulted in the gang stealing €200 from the shop when they expected to find €10,000. The staff had already been tipped off by the Garda.
Both men were arrested in June 2010 after gardaí obtained 15 warrants to search their homes and their accomplices’ homes. The searches led to 12 arrests. The brothers made no admissions during Garda interviews.
Det Insp Roche agreed with Martin Giblin SC, defending Eddie O’Loughlin, that the defendant did not have “a major stash of assets” apart from an orchard in Bulgaria owned with his brother.
He agreed with Conall Mac Carthy, defending Michael O’Loughlin, that the defendant had a difficult upbringing and a violent father.
The judge said the Garda knew everything the O’Loughlins were doing and the brothers “were right to be paranoid”. The O’Loughlins had been involved in “serious crime” and in an offence such as this, involving criminals coming together in a gang, “there is a much greater threat to society”.
He jailed them both for nine years and forfeited the Ford Mondeo and Toyota Avensis to the State, saying he was satisfied they were used as “tools in this criminal enterprise”.