County councillor faces trial charged with stealing another councillor's phone at meeting

A Donegal county councillor has been sent forward for trial, charged with stealing a mobile phone from another county councillor.

Councillor Frank McBrearty appeared at Letterkenny District Court, where he faced one charge. The 56-year-old from Tullyvinney, Raphoe, was in court for the short hearing.

The charge arises out of an alleged incident during a special meeting of Donegal County Council at the Aura Leisure Centre, Sallaghrane, Letterkenny on July 11, 2022.

Councillor McBrearty is charged with stealing property, to wit, a Samsung S21 Ultra Mobile phone valued at €1,000, the property of Gary Doherty. The offence is contrary to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.

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Garda Gillian Page gave evidence to the court of serving a book of evidence in the case on the accused and told the court that he made no reply.

Garda Sergeant Maurice Doyle said the Director of Public Prosecutions had consented for the case to go forward on indictment to the next sitting of Letterkenny Circuit Court commencing on October 28.

Solicitor for Councillor McBrearty, Mr Patsy Gallagher, said the case had already received some notoriety. He added that the case will be fully-contested, although it has yet to be determined what district the case will be heard in.

Mr Gallagher said he was applying for both a senior and junior counsel in the case, given the facts outlined and what he described as "the complexities outlined."

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He also applied for free legal aid on behalf of his client, which was granted. Judge Ciaran Liddy issued the alibi warning to the accused and granted Mr Gallagher both senior and junior counsel.

Councillor McBrearty was released on his own nominal bond of €100 to appear at Letterkenny Circuit Court commencing on October 28.

However, the accused initially refused to sign the bond saying there were copies of other papers beneath the bond. He claimed that Gardai had previously forged his signature and that he would only sign each page separately. The bond was eventually signed. Solicitor Michael Staines told the court that he was keeping a watching brief on behalf of Donegal County Council.