News
Jewellery worth €1.1m hidden under bush, trial hears
Two hold-all bags, containing over €1.1 million worth of diamond rings and Rolex watches, were discovered under a bush on the banks of Lough Atalia in Galway City shortly after an armed robbery had taken place in a city centre jewellers, a trial in Galway heard today.
Members of the public assisted Gardai in catching two of four men arrested shortly before midday on February 11, 2015, in connection with a robbery which had taken place a short time earlier at Hartmann Jewellers in the heart of the city.
One of the four men, Irmantas Paulauskas (38), pleaded not guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court today to the robbery of diamond rings and Rolex watches from Richard Hartmann, 29 William Street.
Irmantas Paulauskas: pleaded not guilty.
He also denied a second charge of having a imitation pistol with a silencer fitted, in his possession with intent to commit robbery on the same date.
Prosecuting barrister, Conor Fahy BL, told the jury of eleven men and one woman that Mr Hartmann was in his office upstairs at 10.42a.m., viewing the CCTV cameras when he saw men, wearing dark clothing, gloves and with their faces partially covered, enter the shop downstairs. He heard a loud bang and immediately dialled 999, alerting Gardai at Galway Garda Station to the robbery in progress.
Garda street cameras were trained on the front of the premises and the men were observed exiting the building 90 seconds later.
They were carrying two hold-all bags, which contained 16 trays of diamond rings – with each tray holding 13 rings – along with 32 Rolex watches, all worth €1.139,653.
Passers-by noticed the men, walking quickly in single, military-style formation down Shop Street.
Garda cameras tracked the men as they turned left onto Abbeygate Street, heading towards Middle Street.
Det. Sgt. John McElroy and Det. Gerry Carroll, who happened to be in the area, gave chase.
Two members of the public helped both Gardai restrain two of the suspects at Middle Street, following a violent struggle.
Mr Fahy told the jury that one of the two men caught at Middle Street was the accused, and he advised jurors they need not be concerned with the other three men.
He said members of the public saw the men walk in military-style formation and some people tracked them into Abbeygate Street and onto Middle Street, where two of them were apprehended.
The other two men were arrested, he said, at 11.30a.m. at the bus station at Fairgreen Road as they waited to catch a bus to Dublin.
A lump hammer and one of two imitation guns used during the robbery, were found on the shop floor by Gardai afterwards, Mr Fahy said.
The second imitation firearm was found on the other man caught in Middle Street with the accused, he added.
The accused, Mr Fahy said, was wearing glasses and these glasses were found at Middle Street later on.
Gardai searched the area along Fairgreen Road, past the bus station, and found the two hold-alls concealed under a low bush, near the water’s edge at Lough Atalia, about a mile away on the Dublin road approach to the city.
All of the jewellery, except for one diamond ring, was found in the hold-alls, along with some clothing, believed to have been used during the robbery.
Mr Fahy said a woman found the ring that evening with the €6,550 price tag still on it at Dock Road, and she handed it in to the Garda Station.
The jewellery, he said, was taken from the front window display area of the shop which was near the front door. A lump hammer was used to smash the glass to get to the displays, he added.
Crime Scene Investigator, Sgt. Seamus Philips, told the trial he observed the jewellery in the hold-all bags which were found at Lough Atalia and said one Rolex watch still had its €5,950 price tag on it.
Ballistics expert, Det. Sharon Langan gave evidence she examined both imitation guns and said they were 6mm calibre air pistols, which contained magazines full of white plastic ‘BB’ ball bearings.
“The guns were made to resemble 9mm semiautomatic pistols which are used by police forces and the military,” she explained.
She said that while the guns were imitations, they could be classified as offensive weapons if used to intimidate people in a public place and they could also be classified as real weapons if used to make members of the public believe they were real.
Mr Bernard Madden SC, defending, said nothing to link the accused to this crime was found on any of the items which were forensically examined by Gardai.
The trial continues tomorrow.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
