By Anne Lucey

A 29-year old man who stole a sheep and also cut the throat of a pregnant ewe near Killarney in Co. Kerry has been handed down a 16-month sentence, with six months suspended.

A victim impact statement by farmer Con O’Riordan at the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee spoke of his horror and shock at what he came upon.

The farmer, who had to pay the costs of the disposal of the animal, also said that the barbaric act has not left him.

Richard Daroczi, previously of Ely O’Carroll Place, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, and a Hungarian native, pleaded guilty to stealing "a ewe sheep in lamb” worth €500, the property of Con O’Riordan on January 5 at Cummeenabrick, Clonkeen, Kerry.

He also admitted causing unnecessary suffering to an animal under the Animal Health and Welfare Act, 2013.

Daroczi was assisted by a Hungarian translator and represented by barrister Kate O’Connell, instructed by solicitor Eimear Griffin.

In evidence, Garda Sergeant Nigel Shevlin said that Con O’Riordan is a sheep farmer living in Kilgarvan who has land at Cummeenabrick, Clonkeen.

"It’s sheep country and there are no residential properties there," he said. The court heard that the flock were in lamb.

At 12.45p.m on January 5, Richard Daroczi pulled up at O’Brien’s Filling Station and got fuel and drove off without paying, the garda outlined.

That afternoon Con O’Riordan was on his land and he saw the accused with one of the sheep, which was a ewe in lamb. Daroczi said the sheep was his. He had cut the throat of the sheep.

Gardaí were alerted and the accused had fled but his car was there. The ewe was identified by the tag, Sergeant Shevlin said.

Two days later, entrails of another animal was found in the locality by neighbours.

"The accused man’s car had been searched and meat was found, but that animal could not be identified as the tag had been removed," Sergeant Shevlin added.

The next day, a man met the accused at a filling station in Tralee and the accused offered to sell him a lamb.

Sergeant Shevlin said that what the accused was doing was going to remote areas to take sheep and killing them to butcher them and then sell them on to members of the public.

A victim impact statement was read by Sergeant Shevlin on behalf of Con O’Riordan, who was in court.

The farmer told how he came “across this man carrying a knife and he had an animal beside him and its throat was cut".

“It was the sheer barbarity of it and his attitude when I met him. He didn’t care at all, it was like he thought there was something wrong with me for caring. He showed no remorse.”

“The two ewes would have hardly come to €500 and to add insult to injury I had to pay another man €200 to remove the other sheep away to prevent them being butchered," he said.

O’Riordan said it had never struck him previously that such a thing could happen, but “ it was always in his head now this could happen again”.

Katie O’Connell, defence barrister said her client “is very apologetic” and that he had been homeless at the time.

“He never came to attention of gardaí for anything like this before. He seems to have just gone off the rails entirely. He was homeless at the time and trying to sell the sheep," she said.

Judge Ronan Munro said that he understood why Con O’Riordan was shocked.

He said the accused is entitled to credit for his plea of guilty, and sentenced him to a total of 16 months - 10 for the theft of the sheep; six for the cruelty, and the fuel theft was also taken into consideration.

The final six months of the sentence has been suspended for three years. The sentence of 10 months was backdated to January 25.

Richard Daroczi was ordered to stay away from Con O’Riordan’s land and stay out of Kenmare and Kilgarvan.