Freezer theft excuse a ‘German fairy story’

Freezer theft excuse branded a ‘German fairy story’


‘A GERMAN fairy story’ was the description given to a defence story given by a German couple who were accused of stealing a freezer from an apartment in Castlebar.
Andreas Ott Pieper of 37 Castlegrove, Castlebar appeared before last week’s sitting of Castlebar District Court where he was charged with stealing a freezer from his old apartment. However, he claimed in court that his partner and the landlady had agreed she would take the freezer if his partner looked after the apartment’s garden.
Breda O’Boyle, the landlady of the apartment on the Turlough Road, Castlebar where Mr Pieper lived said she bought the freezer on July 3, 2009 and noticed it was missing when he moved out a few weeks later. She denied that she had made an arrangement with his partner that she could have the freezer if she looked after the garden.
Detective Garda Declan Sweeney explained that when he spoke to Mr Pieper about the freezer, he told him he bought it from the ESB seven years previously. However, Det Garda Sweeney said he discovered that the ESB did not sell that brand of freezer and when he asked Mr Pieper if he stole the freezer, he replied, ‘I suppose as far as the law is concerned, I suppose’.
Mr Pieper told the court he has been living in Ireland for 23 years and explained that he moved the freezer to their new home across the road because it belonged to his partner. When asked if he intended to steal the freezer he replied, ‘absolutely not’ and added it was nothing to do with him and was an agreement between the two women. The court heard that his partner had worked on the garden for about two weeks before they moved out.
Mr Pieper’s partner, Maria told the Court through the aid of a German interpreter that she had come to an arrangement with Mrs O’Boyle that she could have the freezer in lieu of work carried out in the garden. When asked how she could come to an arrangement without speaking English, she replied that she had a little English.
However, Judge Mary Devins said that story had became ‘a bit of a fairy story and a good old German legend’ and there was no defence whatsoever and convicted Mr Pieper. The court heard that Mr Pieper had previous convictions for forgery and accruing a debt in 1989 from court appearances in Limerick and had received up to 12 months imprisonment.
Ms Caroline Barry, solicitor for the defendant said there was a lot of confusion regarding the matter and explained that Mr Pieper had recently broken his leg and was awaiting surgery. Judge Devins fined him €300 and ordered that the freezer be returned to Mrs O’Boyle.