Man who damaged competitor's car before Donegal Rally told to pay victim €20,000

A retired motor mechanic has been ordered to pay a driver €20,000 after he admitted damaging a rally car just moments before it was due to take part in the Donegal International Rally.

John Crothers, a 66-year-old, admitted damaging the car when he appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court.

The court heard how rally driver Richard Hall was due to compete in the Historics section of the rally in June, 2022.

However, while the Ford Escort car was parked in the service area at Ballyraine in Letterkenny, it was interfered with.

Crothers is accused that he did, without lawful excuse, damage property, to wit, cut the fuel pump switch, the fan switch, three wires to the rev limiter and the safety switch of a motor car, a Ford Escort, belonging to Richard Hall, intending to damage such property or being reckless as to whether such property would be damaged.

Garda Maeve Logue outlined the details of the incident to state barrister Ms Fiona Crawford at the sentencing hearing.

The court heard the incident stemmed from claims by Crothers that Mr Hall owed him a a sum of money from repairing a rally car a number of years ago, a debt he claimed was never paid.

Garda Logue told how she was in the service area on the morning of the rally, on June 18, 2022, and was accompanied by Garda Sergeant Paul Wallace.

The court was told that Mr Hall was due to commence preparations for the race but there was a man in the car and he was refusing to get out.

The driver told Gardai he knew who the man was and that he had threatened to damage his car if he didn't pay him the money that he owed him.

Gardai also spoke to Declan Campbell, Mr Hall's co-driver, who said he saw a man in a dark coat with papers in his hand getting into the driver's seat of the rally car awkwardly.

When he looked closer into the car he saw something in the car which looked like a kill switch.

Gardai were called and Crothers was identified and was found to have a 'snips' in his hand.

He was spoken to, arrested and then brought to Letterkenny Garda Station.

Crothers was interviewed but made no admissions but was charged with criminal damage and a date was set for trial.

However, he later pleaded guilty and full details of the case were given at the sentencing hearing.

A victim impact statement was read out on behalf of the victim, Mr Hall, who was present in court for the hearing.

He outlined the incident on the day which he said could have threatened his life and the life of his co-driver, adding that it continues to cause him a lot of anxiety and stress.

He said rallying was his passion but that, after this incident, he took some time away from the sport.

As a previous Irish historics champion, he decided to try to return to the sport and compete in the Manx Rally but could not as his "confidence has crashed."

He said he now feels isolated and misses the many social links to the sport which he said were a big part of his life.

Barrister for the accused, Mr Peter Nolan, BL, instructed by solicitor Mr Rory O'Brien, said his client had no previous convictions in either jurisdiction.

Mr Nolan gave a background to the case saying that his client had carried out some work on a rally car for Mr Hall but that the estimated bill for €3,800 was never paid.

The accused commenced legal proceedings but stopped them after being advised that even if they were paid it would be paid in small amounts.

"That's how we arrive at today," said Mr Nolan.

The court heard that Crothers drove from Ballymena to Letterkenny arriving at 8.13am and found a small pair of pliers in the paddock of the rally area which he picked up and put in his pocket.

Mr Nolan said he then climbed into Mr Hall's car and claimed he told the navigator that he was there to collect the money owed to him and that the navigator allegedly replied "join the list."

Gardai arrived and Crothers said he had no argument with anybody else apart from Mr Hall whom he claimed owed him the money for the car repairs for 15 years.

Gardai informed him this was a civil matter and when he was searched by Gardai, a pair of pliers was found on Crothers and he was then taken to Letterkenny Garda Station.

Mr Nolan said his client accepted that he damaged the car and cut the wires but under no circumstance dos he accept a claim of €24,100 for repairs to the damaged car which were handed in on behalf of the plaintiff by the State.

A list of the items claimed for were read out which Mr Nolan said his client strongly disputed as someone who had worked in the motor industry for more than 30 years.

Among the costs for the repairs to Mr Hall's car was 50 hours of labour at €80 per hour bringing a total of €4,000 which was strongly disputed.

Judge John Aylmer said that a ticket (the repair costs) had been mentioned by the state but that he was not going to get into the matter or enter into the details of the cost of the damage.

In his statement, Crothers was asked if he regretted the incident and he replied he did regret that he got involved in the way he did but added that he believed he was provoked into it.

When asked if he had anything to say to Mr Hall, the accused replied "I would prefer not to at this moment in time." 

A video was played in court which was taken by Crothers from inside Mr Hall's rally car and a person could be heard saying 'go on ahead, John, do as much damage as you want and see what kind of trouble you get into."

A probation report from the Northern Ireland authorities said this was a behaviour lapse and that Crothers had expressed genuine remorse and put him at a low risk of further offending.

Mr Nolan said his client had taken the law into his own hands and that he should not have done, although he still disputes the amount of damages being claimed.

He added that Crothers is well-known and highly regarded in tye motor industry but said he lost his business during Covid and is now retired.

"You'll never see Mr Crothers before you in court here again," Mr Nolan told the Judge.

Judge Aylmer said he was not going to pass sentence immediately.

He added that what he will be saying is this is a case of very serious criminal damage caused by a man as a result of an incident which was long since statute barred which he had no right to pursue.

He went back over the incident and said the impact of the offence had had an appalling impact on Mr Hall and that he has now lost his love of the sport and all of the social camaraderie he enjoyed previously.

Leaving aside mitigation, Judge Aylmer said he placed the offence in the mid range of such offences and merited a prison sentence of four years.

He added that Crothers had entered a plea late in the day when he had taken a trial date and that provides some mitigation but not much and that he continues to allege "provocation and justification."

Notwithstanding his lack of previous convictions and previous good character, the Judge said he found it difficult to mitigate this sentence down further than one of three and a half years in prison.

He added that given the lack of previous convictions and Crothers' good character, he had to decide if he might suspend some or all of that sentence but said he would not do this until he saw a substantial amount of money paid over to Mr Hall.

He set this figure at €20,000 adding there was no specific reason why he was suggesting this figure saying he didn't have any exact evidence other than Mr Hall's estimate but added that he was not "going to engage in all of that."

He told Mr Nolan that he will adjourn the case for 12 months adding that he expected to see at least €10,000 paid in that time.