A publican denied theft of an iPhone from a 66-year-old man — where there was bad blood between them for years — but the judge who heard the disputed case noted that the phone was found in a four-inch Wavin pipe behind a fence at the back of The Silver Key pub.

Judge Marian O’Leary proceeded to convict 54-year-old Tony Campion, publican of The Silver Key, Ballintemple, Cork, on the charge of stealing the phone from Patrick Bresnan on July 16, 2021. The judge fined Tony Campion €400. His solicitor Carl O’Mahony indicated that the case may be appealed.

Judge O’Leary said: 

“There is no doubt there is serious ongoing discord between the defendant and the complainant over a long number of years.

“The alleged theft of a phone occurred on July 16, 2021. Mr Bresnan said the phone was snatched from his hand by Mr Campion who then ran away and went into his public house. He denied the allegation of theft but confirmed he did grab the phone. No fingerprints were found on the phone. Through an iPhone app, the phone was located in a four-inch Wavin pipe behind a fence in the back yard of Mr Campion’s pub,” Judge O’Leary said.

The judge referred to a number of witnesses who said they did not see Mr Campion take the phone and the witnesses also stated that they did not take it or place it in the plastic pipe. 

“The State proved ownership of the phone, that the property was taken without consent and concealed in a four-inch Wavin pipe behind a timber fence. I find him guilty of Section 4 theft,” Judge O’Leary said.

Once the judge convicted the publican, the defence solicitor Mr O’Mahony urged the judge to be as lenient as possible with the penalty. The solicitor said that because of the “continued bad blood between these people”, the complainant Mr Bresnan might view a more severe penalty as a vindication of what the defence solicitor described as Mr Bresnan’s “irrational and delusional” position. If the case is appealed it would be heard probably later this year.