Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
THE STATE PAPERS are released every year from 30 years previously and often give us an insight into the behind the scenes goings on in government at the time.
Although these details were included in these official government documents, this is not one of those stories.
This story is about a lawnmower that was allegedly stolen from a hardware shop in central Dublin. It made it all the way into the Attorney General’s papers.
Just as a reminder, it is the responsibility of the Attorney General of Ireland to act as the legal adviser to the government.
Here’s what happened:
A man walked into a hardware shop, looking for a lawnmower. He located a fine, top of the range Qualcast Punch Lawnmower worth over £200. He alleges he paid for it, and left the shop with it.
The shop said that he just simply walked out with it without paying for it, when he saw that shop assistants were busy.
After making contact with the man and asking him to either prove he had paid by showing a receipt or simply just paying the money, the matter was brought to the gardaí.
The gardaí arrived to his house with a search warrant and removed the lawnmower.
Dispute
In a letter from the man’s solicitor on 13 May 1987, it expresses dismay and consternation at this removal, and reaffirms several times that he did pay for it.
It said: “Our client instructs us that he paid the full amount for the lawnmower and one of your assistants actually carried the lawnmower out to this vehicle for him after assisting him in dismantling the lawnmower in your reception area.
We have instructions to take immediate action to secure the recovery of the lawnmower and we also have instructions to put you on notice that unless we receive a letter from you within seven days indicating that you accept a mistake has been made and undertaking to compensate our client for the shock, fear and distress which this entire affair has caused him, legal proceedings will be taken against you in the High Court to determine the matter.
Advertisement
In a letter back, the owner of the hardware shop was adamant that the shop was £200 short and that the man hadn’t paid.
The owner said: “He said he might not have the receipt or again, he might have it. As he was happy that he had paid he did not see why he should be pressed to show a receipt.
I told him that I had no record of £200 being paid to the company and he replied that that was my affair as he had paid one of my men and what happened to the money afterwards was my concern, not his.
In a letter signed by one of the sales assistants at the hardware store, he said that as he was “with another customer at the time, [he] was unable to become involved in the transaction other than giving the man the book and a spencer”.
Another staff member said that he saw that the man at the second cash register and assumed he had paid, so that’s why he helped him leave the shop with it.
Two more staff members said that the man had indeed paid a deposit of £10 some time previously, but stated categorically that he did not pay the remaining £200.
As the man had left his details with the shop when he paid his initial deposits, they made efforts to contact him to ask him if he paid the money.
Gardaí judgement
When the matter was brought to the gardaí, a statement signed by a sergeant said that the man “took advantage of confusion created by being served by a number of persons and got possession of the mower without paying the £200″.
This sergeant seemed in no doubt that the man had taken the lawnmower without paying for it, saying he was able to produce a receipt for the £10 deposit, but not for the other £200.
The garda said if he had a receipt to clear his name, why wouldn’t he produce it?
That garda asked for a copy of the file be sent to the Chief State Solicitors office for direction as to what charges, if any, should be brought against the man.
The Attorney General’s office did not recommend a prosecution but, as the lawnmower was now in the possession of the gardaí, it be subject to a police property application.
This meant that the matter could be fought out in court or, if the ownership of the lawnmower could not be ascertained, then it would be destroyed.
As this is where the Attorney General’s role in these matters ends, we don’t know what happened after that. Either way, we may safely assume that the grass in this man’s garden would have been very high indeed before he got the chance to cut it.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
26 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Surge in children receiving treatment for sexually harmful and abusive behaviour
Patricia Devlin
2 hrs ago
623
Onwards
Barcelona progress to Champions League final four despite second-leg defeat
3 hrs ago
2.0k
0
US Tariffs
Trump namechecks Ireland again as he suggests pharma import tariffs may be imposed soon
Updated
15 hrs ago
58.5k
130
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 168 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 113 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 149 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 117 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 84 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 84 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 39 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 35 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 138 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 63 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 78 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 86 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 49 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 95 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 102 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 73 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 54 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 92 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 72 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say