Man who stole caravan in Donegal still owes €2,500 to owner - six years on

A man who stole a caravan from Falcarragh six years ago has paid another €500 to its owner. 

Stephen Ward admitted taking the Hobby Caravan model 570 from the property of George Gilmore at Ballyness, Falcarragh on September 7, 2019.

The 26-year old accused man previously admitted the theft when he appeared at Falcarragh District Court.

Canny gardai tracked the caravan more than 169 kilometres using dozens of CCTV cameras along the route before finally nabbing Ward.

The court was told that a Hobby Caravan model 570 was stolen from the property of Mr Gilmore at Ballyness, Falcarragh.

Local gardai got their thinking hats on and viewed dozens of CCTV cameras in a bid to track down the 27ft long caravan which is valued at €9,200.

They viewed CCTV footage leaving all directions out of Falcarragh and spotted the caravan being towed.

They then crossed-referenced dozens of CCTV cameras along the route before tracking the caravan to an address at Castleblayney, Co Monaghan.

When gardai seized the caravan, there was €4,471 worth of damage or property missing.

The case has been in court on countless occasions as Ward paid off some instalments towards the damage or lost property.

In April, Judge Éiteáin Cunningham said the matter had to be resolved soon saying "we have to get to the bottom of this."

She said the case was ongoing for a number of years to before when she arrived at Donegal Court District 1 which was in 2022.

The case was mentioned on Monday before Judge Ciaran Liddy when solicitor Frank Murphy said he had another €500 to pay off the damage and loss of goods from the caravan.

This now leaves a balance of approximately just under €2,500.

The case was adjourned to January, 20026 to allow for another payment.