A Belfast man arrested by gardaí in Emyvale for being in possession of a stolen van and a litany of other theft charges has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison at Monaghan Circuit Court today.
Stephen McCrea with an address of 70 Willowvale Gardens in Belfast pleaded guilty to three of the 11 charges against him during a court hearing in April. Today, he returned to court for sentencing where he received a three-year prison sentence for possession of a grey Ford Transit van in Monaghan on 28th June 2023.
According to court papers, arresting garda Mark O'Riordan of Emyvale also discovered the van bore false number plates and false CVRT and motor tax discs. On the same date in June McCrea was also found to be in possession of a false vehicle registration certificate, false vehicle service schedule and VIN.
Each of the five counts of false documentation were taken into consideration with the first count of possessing the stolen van for which he received a total three years in prison. The court also heard how, a year earlier, on May 19th 2023, Gardaí in Louth found the 22-year-old in possession of a stolen Citroen campervan which originally had UK registration plates but was bearing false Dublin ones.
On the same date, in Crowe Street, Dundalk Stephen McCrea stole €42,100 from Barry Smith, the court was told. Counts eight to 11 related to being in possession of false vehicle registration certificates, motor tax and CVRT discs, vehicle service schedule and VIN.
After Stephen McCrea pleaded guilty he was sentenced to three years for the possession of the campervan and sentenced to three years imprisonment. For the theft of over €42,000 he received a sentence of three years nine months. All prison terms are to run concurrently.
