Men stole scrap metal from hospital skip

A van used by two men to steal scrap metal from a skip at Craigavon Area Hospital will be sold off and the proceeds given to the children’s ward.

It was also ordered last Wednesday at Craigavon Magistrates Court that the proceeds of the sale of the metal should go to the ward.

In the dock were 41-year-old Anthony Joseph Gabriel Maughan and 20-year-old Seamus Maughan, both with an address at Lakeview Court in Craigavon.

They admitted stealing scrap metal belonging to Craigavon Hospital on September 7 this year and transporting controlled waste without a licence.

For the theft charge Seamus Maughan was given 100 hours community service while Anthony Maughan was fined £350 and sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years. They were fined £100 each for the second charge and ordered to pay a £15 offender’s levy.

The court heard that police received a report of two men stealing metal from a skip at the hospital. A number of items were found in the rear of a transit van. Both defendants admitted taking the items and did not have a licence. The metal was usually re-cycled and any money received was put back into the hospital.

District Judge, Mr Mervyn Bates, said there was a big difference between the two defendants in relation to their backgrounds and records.

A barrister for the defendants said Anthony Maughan’s last entry on his record for theft was back in 2005 and he had now come to the court’s attention since then. Judge Bates said if the metal was valuable for the men to steal it would have been valuable for the hospital to steal.

He added that Seamus Maughan had a clear record while Anthony Maughan had a dreadful record with offences of dishonesty but his last for theft was in 2005. However, said Judge Bates, he could not ignore such a record.