Longford defendant who purchased car from ‘a Gilligan man’ to be sentenced for false documentation

A man is due to reappear at Longford Circuit Court in July after a jury found him guilty of being in possession of a false instrument, namely a vehicle registration certificate.

Edward Stokes (33), of Ferriskill, Granard, Co Longford, appeared before Judge Kenneth Connolly for a sentencing hearing on Wednesday last.

Detective Garda Padraig Fahy told the court that, on March 4, 2020, at 2.52pm, he stopped a Nissan Qashqai at Granardkill, Granard, which was driven by the defendant.

The vehicle was not taxed and Mr Stokes explained that he had purchased the car on March 1, 2020, from “a Gilligan man” in Dublin who was sending in the log book for change of ownership.

Det Gda Fahy explained that he made an application to the Department of Transport who provided him with a copy of the licensing certificate, which listed the owner as Lukes Bidoszewski, “written in a way that looked like they forgot how to spell their own name”.

On June 10, 2020, Det Garda Fahy again stopped the vehicle on the road at Aghafin, Edgeworthstown, and found that it was once again driven by Mr Stokes and had no tax or insurance.

“I spoke to him and he said he hadn't received the log book back,” said Det Garda Fahy.

The vehicle was subsequently seized and, on June 12, Mr Stokes attended at Granard Garda Station seeking its release.
However, as the vehicle wasn't in Mr Stokes' name, he was told it could not be released to him.

Mr Stokes said the log book was in the glove box of the car and Gardaí confirmed this by contacting the secure location in which the car was stored.

Mr Stokes then told Gardaí that he'd bought the car “from a foreigner” but, when Det Garda Nolan told him that wasn't what he'd initially told Gardaí, Mr Stokes said “you can keep the car” and left.

When the registered address on the log book was visited by Gardaí, there was nobody called Lukes Bidoszewski living at that address, nor was there any record of a person of that name in the social welfare system.

The court heard that Mr Stokes was on “double bail” at the time of the offence. He was on bail for a violent disorder incident, for which he has since been sentenced, and for an alleged endangerment, production of an article and criminal damage incident, which is still before the courts.

Therefore, Judge Connolly noted, any sentence he imposes for this offence will be served consecutive to sentences imposed for the charges for which he was on bail.

“But this certainly meets the custody threshold, especially when I can't give mitigation for a plea because there was none,” he said.

Mr Stokes was therefore remanded in custody to July 9, 2024 for sentencing.