“I KNOW now where Phoenix magazine got their ‘Bog Cuttings’ title from” a Judge quipped when a solicitor produced two sods of turf as evidence in a case involving a dispute over the quality of turf sold and a refusal to pay for it.
The defendant in the case referred several times to “shite turf” claiming some of it was little more than muck. The claimant argued that the defendant had turned the turf and brought it home without any mention of poor quality although they encountered each other often, and argued that he either wanted the €290 owed to him for a trailer-and-a-half of his turf, or the return of that amount of turf to him, which he would be happy to burn himself.
The option was put to the defendant, Paddy Joe Higgins (73 ) Bodane, Belclare, Tuam, who was charged with theft in the Court, and who flatly refused to do either.
Jimmy Sweeney told the Court that he cut turf on his bog at Cloonaglasha, Bodane and offered some for sale. Higgins came to him in 2023 wanting to buy turf. They did a deal and all went well. He returned in 2024 and they did a similar deal for 91 yards, 73 from one site and 18 from another. They agreed on a price of €11 a yard and he left it at 90 yards for an agreed price of €990.
Higgins had paid over €700 but in the witness box under oath he said that he told his wife while turning the turf that it was “shite” and to make up for the poor quality he wouldn’t pay the remaining €290.
Jimmy Sweeney said that they were neighbours in a small community and he didn’t want to go to the Guards, but he couldn’t accept that he was to be at the loss of a trailer-and a-half of turf after the deal was done.
When Sweeney confronted Higgins over the money owed, Higgins said he told him that “he was too cute” and claimed Sweeney “lost the head” and pushed him, so he threatened to call the Guards. He claimed Sweeney threatened to smash his car window.
Mr Gleeson confronted Sweeney on the stand with two sods of turf which Higgins claimed were of inferior quality. Sweeney said they looked fine to him.
Eric Gleeson, solr for Higgins, told Judge Vincent Dean that the DPP initially decided the case shouldn’t go ahead, but Jimmy Sweeney appealed this decision and that was why his client was before the Court. He added that turf was “an emotive issue” in rural areas.
Higgins claimed that after 30 yards of turf were turned the bank turned into a swamp and the turf was “shite” which he told Sweeney, but he didn’t want to see it.
Mr Gleeson confronted Sweeney on the stand with two sods of turf which Higgins claimed were of inferior quality. The witness said they looked fine to him.
Jimmy Sweeney said his rule was that he didn’t let turf leave his bog without payment up front. He argued that Higgins had ample opportunity to assess the quality of the turf while footing it and if he had an issue why did he say nothing and take it home.
He said Higgins got first choice of his turf and he picked the same bank as he had the year before, the exact same spot, and so the same turf as 2023 when there had been no complaint of quality.
Higgins had called him for a tow when his vehicle got stuck in the bog and he obliged, but there was still no mention of either payment or poor quality turf, he added.
“If I went into a restaurant and ate every bit on my plate I couldn’t complain after and say I’m only going to pay €20 of the €30 bill,” Sweeney argued. He added that he’d been warned that Higgins had a name for not paying people.
He added that Sweeney said they were neighbours, but they weren’t. “There are 20 houses between us. I’m Belclare, he’s Kilconly.”
Eric Gleeson referred to this as a scurrilous insinuation and put it to his client to respond. Higgins said he “didn’t owe a halfpenny to anyone” and that Sweeney needed to do an anger management course.
Garda Insp Stan O’Grady put it to Higgins that he had made a deal, took all the turf away, and then, as he had admitted in evidence, told his wife that he would cut back on the payment. The Inspector said he was offered the choice of paying for or returning the turf and Higgins responded, “no, it’s all about money with that man.”
He added that he and his wife could not leave the turf behind because they had so much work already done on it that they could not walk away.
Summing up, Judge Dean said it was a very straightforward case. There were two lots of turf and Higgins took the two as agreed. “He made a deal and then he changed it,” he said. He convicted Higgins of theft and imposed a fine of €700.
“There’s no point in making a compensation order (to Sweeney ) as he’s not going to comply,” Judge Dean concluded.
Recognisances were fixed in the event of an appeal.
