Longford man to serve a further ten months in prison for possession of false instrument

A man who is currently serving a six and a half year sentence for a violent attack on another man in October 2018, has had a further ten months imprisonment imposed on him at Longford Circuit Court.

Edward ‘Blondie’ Stokes (33), of Ferriskill, Granard, Co Longford, appeared before Judge Kenneth Connolly at Longford Circuit Court in February, where a jury found him guilty of being in possession of a false instrument, namely a vehicle registration certificate.

Not long after the trial, the Court of Appeal more than doubled the two-and-a-half year sentence initially handed down in the Circuit Court for a violent disorder committed at a Longford pub in 2018, instead imposing a sentence of seven years with the final six months suspended.

When Mr Stokes appeared again before Judge Connolly for sentence last Wednesday, it was noted that any prison term imposed for the possession of a false instrument would have to be consecutive in circumstances where the offence was committed while on bail.

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The violent disorder in Kane’s Bar, Granard, on October 7, 2018, saw Mr Stokes use a shillelagh to strike another man up to 20 times during the brutal assault. He was admitted to bail on July 11, 2019 and, on June 10, 2020, was found to be in possession of a false log book under the name of Lukes Bidoszewski.

During the trial, the court heard that Mr Stokes was stopped on March 4, 2020, by Detective Garda Padraig Fahy, while driving a Nissan Qashqai at Granardkill, Granard.

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.

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During the jury trial, 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 Gda 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 Gda Fahy.

The vehicle was subsequently seized and, on June 12, Mr Stokes attended at Granard Garda Station seeking its release.

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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 it was put to him that this wasn't what he'd initially told Gardaí, Mr Stokes said “you can keep the car” and left.

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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 the violent disorder incident, for which he was sentenced to seven years with the final six months suspended at the Court of Appeal.

He was also on bail 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.

Counsel for the defence, Andrea Callan BL, told the court that, since his imprisonment, Mr Stokes has “completed various courses”, including at ten-month long first aid course, a literacy ambassador programme, Traveller support workshops, the Circle programme, a Red Cross course and training for facilitators provided by the Alternative to Violence programme, which was of particular interest to Judge Connolly.

“Congratulations on spending your time in prison productively. It is a particularly heavy sentence that was handed down by the court of appeal,” said Judge Connolly, adding that he “fully respected” the decision of the “superior court”.

“In this particular case, it surprised me greatly that a jury was required considering the circumstances. I can’t give any mitigation for a plea of guilty because there was none, so I must look at the maximum tariff, which is five years.

“That maximum sentence is greatly reduced by a plea of guilt, but I can’t exercise that mitigation (as this case went to trial). It constrains the court greatly if that course is taken and is unsuccessful.”

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Ms Callan, for her part, agreed that the case would have been “easily dealt with” at District Court level, had a guilty plea been entered.

Judge Connolloy noted that the father of seven gave “no assistance to Gardaí and made no admissions”, and that he was “caught red-handed”, as well as having 25 previous convictions, some of which are relevant to this case.

However, he took into consideration the fact that Mr Stokes is a family man, who wrote an apology letter and who made no financial gain from his offending.

“It’s very difficult to see why he’d involve himself for no financial gain, but that’s what I was told. And the vehicle was destroyed, so he was at a loss of the value of the vehicle,” he said.

Also noting the certificates and testimonials handed into the court last week, Judge Connolly imposed a ten month sentence, which will be served consecutively to the six years and six months currently being served by Mr Stokes.

“I feel that’s the best I can do. It would’ve been more if the Court of Appeal hadn’t handed down such a lengthy sentence,” said Judge Connolly.

“I have to give light at the end of the tunnel and I have to give hope for rehabilitation. But I am not suspending any portion of that,” he concluded.

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