Longford Court hears how glass fragments link burglar to crime scene

Four years ago a community childcare facility in Granard was robbed of over €3,000 in cash, and last week, Fergal Gannon (39) of Ferefad, Longford, was convicted of the offence.
The defendant was before Judge Bernadette Owens in Longford District Court charged with the theft of a safe containing cash to the value of €3,200.

The first State witness, Linda Heffernan, recalled the events of the morning of March 3, 2019. Ms Hefferan was the Deputy Manager and a childcare worker in the Granard Community Care Group, located at Church Hill, Granard.

The witness was the designated keyholder on the night, and received a call regarding a break in at the premises. Ms Heffernan attended on site and noted a broken window and the office was ransacked. She turned off the alarm and inspected the premises.

The office was the only area of the building that had been targeted in the break in. The deputy manager reviewed the CCTV footage of the incident. The video showed a hooded man walking around the building, looking in the windows and making his way to the office window. Four minutes later he was observed walking back with an item in his hand.

Under cross examination by counsel for the defendant, Andrea Callan BL, the witness described how the safe was located in the office of the childcare facility. Ms Heffernan described it as “a private area”, but said that parents would come into the office to make payments.
Ms Callan put it to the witness that over 100 children and perhaps up to 200 guardians, along with over 20 staff members, could access the office in the course of a week. Ms Heffernan agreed that the office was accessible to parents making payments.

The second witness for the prosecution, Amanda Mason, was the crèche manager at the time of the break in. Ms Mason spoke of receiving a call from her deputy manager telling her about the break in and the subsequent alarm.

On the morning of March 3, 2019 the witness attended at the crèche. She noted the safe was gone, but nothing else was taken.

Ms Mason said on the previous Friday parents had been “making payments all day”. She said as it was a community facility there was never an issue leaving money in the safe until the following Monday.
The crèche manager said laptops and phones in the office were ignored by the thief, while valuable tablets and toys in the classrooms were also overlooked: “It didn't look like someone was rooting around, it looked like someone who knew what they were looking for,” Ms Mason told the judge.
The court viewed the CCTV footage from the previous Friday. In it Mr Gannon could be seen calling in to the crèche office with his partner, to collect a child.

The CCTV footage from Saturday night was then viewed. The hooded figure approached the office widow, then returned some minutes later with a panel in which the safe was mounted.
The witness said although the perpetrator's face was covered she knew who it was. Ms Mason said she could identify the defendant, Mr Gannon, “from his walk” as he had attended at the crèche a number of times with his partner to collect one of the children.

Ms Callan put it to the defendant that her client did not have a distinctive walk. The witness said: “I was looking at people walking up everyday, I'm not an expert, but I would know someone from their walk.”

Ms Mason described the walk as “kind of hunched over, sauntering”.
The third State witness, Garda Eoin Reilly, was the first officer on the scene of the break in. He conducted a foot patrol of the area in the early hours of the morning, but there was nobody around. He took a statement from Ms Mason.

In the statement Ms Mason said she recognised the intruder from “his gait, height, build, clothes and shoes”.

Garda Reilly obtained a search warrant of the defendant's home address. A number of items were seized in a search of Mr Gannon's house, including a sledgehammer, a pair of blue jeans, a jacket, a pair of gloves and a hat.
The items were sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis. Mr Gannon was arrested, but made no admissions in the interview.

Witness Detective Inspector Tom Quinn said a review of the circumstances and CCTV suggested that the perpetrator of the burglary “had intimate knowledge of the office” and “knew where the cash was”.
Having reviewed the CCTV of the break-in and the visitors to the office on the previous day DI Quinn said he suspected Mr Gannon may have “had knowledge of the crime”.

The Detective Inspector was among the officers executing the search warrant, finding a sledgehammer in the hallway of Mr Gannon's house as well as a pair of blue jeans matched those in CCTV, and a jacket with a pair of gloves and a hat in the pocket.

Dr Brian Gorey, of Forensic Science Ireland, said an assessment was done of the items to ascertain if they contained evidence relevant to the case. Dr Gorey said he undertook examinations of the sledge hammer and the clothes.

The forensic scientist said he expected he may find powdered glass on the hammer, but there was none. However seven fragments of glass were found on the socks, jeans and jacket seized under warrant.

The witness said a random sample of members of the public may find one fragment, however the examination of Gannon's clothes found seven samples.
A 'refractive index' of three glass fragments found on the clothes match the glass from the crèche window.
Dr Gorey said this gave moderate support to the belief Mr Gannon was at the scene of the crime. Judge Owens asked how “moderate support” ranked, the forensic scientist said this was around eight out of 12 on a scale.

In her submission to the judge Ms Callan said the prosecution failed to put their case “beyond a reasonable doubt”. Counsel pointed to the open door policy in the crèche which could allow up to 200 parents “going in and out” of the office in any week.

The barrister described the robbery as “extremely targeted” and not one that could have been undertaken by someone who was only in the office a couple of times.

In her summation Judge Owens identified two distinct issues as integral to the case. The judge noted the identification by Ms Mason of the man in the CCTV footage and the glass fragments on Gannon's clothes as crucial points of the prosecution's case.

The judge said she accepted the evidence of both Ms Mason and Dr Gorey. Judge Owens convicted the defendant of the burglary charge.

The court was told Mr Gannon has 24 previous convictions; including criminal damage, theft, drug possession, and burglary. Ms Callan described her client as “a carer who looks after his brother who is a wheelchair user”.

Counsel acknowledged the defendant has “some history”, but asked the judge to consider an up-to-date probation report before moving to sentencing.

Judge Owen noted Mr Gannon's last conviction dated from 2019 and directed that a probation report be prepared.

The matter was adjourned to July 25 next to allow for the preparation of the report.