Ballyliffin man who failed to pay for fuel at filling station cleared of theft charge

An Inishowen man, who failed to pay for fuel at a filling station outside Buncrana last year, has been cleared of a theft charge in court.

Owen McGinty, of Ballyliffin, Co Donegal, appeared before Buncrana District Court, where he faced a charge of obtaining goods to the value of €25 and dishonestly making off without payment, contrary to Section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.

The incident occurred at the Umricam filling station on the outskirts of Buncrana on September 14, 2024.

Judge Ciaran Liddy addressed the 25-year-old defendant: “You are charged with an offence under the Theft and Fraud Act; you are entitled to be charged at the Circuit Court before a judge and jury or this court – which do you elect for?”

“This court,” Mr McGinty replied.

Defending the matter, solicitor Frank Dorrian described the circumstances as atypical and said his client hadn’t set out to defraud the shop.

“It’s an unusual case in that he didn’t simply drive off.”

“He acquired fuel from the petrol station and he went in to present his card for payment, but it was refused. On further investigation of that, it turned out that there was basically some kind of hack of his account.”

“He explained his position to the people in the shop, and said that he was going to go and get the money. Unfortunately, he then had no means of accessing the money for the same reason.”

“He went back off to Mayo, but ultimately he did repay the €25 to the shop, and that receipt has been furnished to An Garda Siochana.”

Mr Dorrian said it was an inadvertent mistake rather than a willful act.

“It’s no more sinister than that. The amount of fuel acquired was modest, which was indicative of his means at the time.”

READ NEXT: Eileen and Seán Donaghey honoured as Tip O’Neill Award winners

Garda Sergeant Conor Mulkerns told the court that he didn’t have a copy of the payment receipt on file, but he accepted Mr McGinty’s solicitor at his word that the debt had been repaid.

The court was told that Mr McGinty has no previous convictions.

“He’s a young man, and there’s no pattern of this,” Mr Dorrian added.

Upon hearing the facts of the case, Judge Liddy dismissed the charge altogether and Mr McGinty left the courtroom.