Not guilty verdict on all twenty charges in controversial waste case

Not guilty verdict on all twenty charges in controversial waste case


Claims of extortion to be investigated as all five defendants express relief at verdict


Michael Duffy

A VERDICT of not guilty has been passed by a jury in the Circuit Criminal Court in Galway on all twenty charges faced by five men and three companies after a controversial trial eight dat trial where claims of competition law being breached were made.
Mr Padraic Hughes, with an address at Tullycommons, Castlebar,  a former Secretary of Mayo County Council in 2000, was found not guilty on three counts of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring three waste disposal companies to commit an offence by entering into an agreement with each other over a nine-day period, between August 24, 2005 and September 2, 2005, to prevent, restrict or distort competition by sharing the market for the provision of waste collection services in Co Mayo, the Competition Act 2002.
He was also found not guilty on three further charges of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the three companies to enter into an agreement with each other between the same dates to share customers in Co Mayo thus preventing competition.
Company directors, Mr Stanley Bourke, of Bourke Waste Removal Limited, Clogher, Westport; Patrick McGrath and Declan McGrath of McGrath Industrial Waste Limited, Turlough, Castlebar, and Paul Gleeson of Wheeley Environmental Refuse Services Limited T/A Wers Waste, Weir Road, Tuam, Co Galway, were all found not guilty on two charges each of entering into an agreement between August 24, 2005 and September 2, 2005, which had as its object the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition in the provision of domestic waste collection services in Mayo by: (a) sharing customers and, (b) sharing the market for the provision of such services. All three companies were also found not guilty on two similar charges each. It took the jury just fifteen minutes in total to return their verdicts of not guilty.
Legal representatives of all five men facing the charges gave statements after the verdicts, admitting their clients obvious relief at the not guilty verdict.
Mr Aidan Crowley, solicitor representing Mr Hughes, said his client, and his client’s family, were relieved the cases had been thrown out by the court.
“Mr Hughes is dumbfounded that the Competition Authority, with its twenty officers, did not even bother to establish the facts during its investigation, but rather to base its case on untruths.”
Mr Crowley said Mr Hughes wished to thank all his family and friends for standing by him over a difficult last three and a half years.
“The truth has prevailed although at considerable cost to my client, and damage to his reputation, which now leaves this court intact. The taxpayer funds the Competition Authority although my client is unable to recoup his costs, though this is now a matter for the courts and will be addressed in due course.”
Mr Crowley also thanked Judge Liam McKechnie and the jury for their close examination of the facts of the case.
Mr Richard Kennedy, solicitor for Patrick and Declan McGrath, said his clients had been under extreme stress since these allegations surfaced in 2005.
“My clients came in here as innocent people and they leave as innocent people, they never did anything wrong. They are glad it’s over.”
Mr Darragh Robinson, solicitor for Stanley Bourke, said his client was absolutely delighted with the verdict, stating it was notable it took the jury just 15 minutes to return their verdicts.
“The jury clearly had no hesitation with their decision. It has always been the view of the defence that this was a badly investigated case in which honest businessmen in Co Mayo were investigated by Competition Authority, who put two and two together and got 44. It was not a case of price fixing, it was a case where at the end of the day consumers of Co Mayo were, and will continue to be, very well served, by the businessmen who were the subject matter of this trial. The last few years have been very difficult for my client with this shadow hanging over him, he’s a hardworking man in business on his own for the last ten years. He is a citizen of exceptionally good standing in Westport and will remain so for the future.”
Representatives of the Competition Authority declined to comment on the verdict, stating that due process had been gone through.