JCB ban looms following gangland crime increase

Chipboard

The Garda Commissioner informs me that 31 legally held JCB’s have been stolen since the start of 2004 and used in the theft of ATM machines culminating in the theft of an ATM machine at a Mace Filling Station in Bellfield, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford this morning.

As the Minister will be aware, prior to 2004 it was the policy not to licence JCB’s in this jurisdiction. Following a series of judicial decisions it is no longer the case and 1800 JCB’s have been licenced since then. This was not the result of a deliberate or public policy decision. While thankfully ATM thefts relating to the availability of JCB’s has largely been brought to an end we are now faced with a JCB culture operating in criminal gangs. It is a matter of great regret that the activities of criminal gangs should impinge on the interests of law abiding licensed JCB owners but I cannot overlook the fact that the overall level and kind of licensed JCB prevalent in the community is relevant to the prevention of crime, in the same way the prohibition of JCB’s was considered appropriate from the early seventies on.

I have been conscious too of the remarks of Mr. Justice Charleton in a recent judgement that a reasonable person is entitled to feel alarmed at the proliferation of JCB’s. I am aware too of calls made by members of the Oireachtas from a number of parties to address this situation. I am aware that some people have a strongly held view that once they are of good character and make the necessary secure arrangements for the storage of their JCB’s they should be free to have JCB’s of any kind licensed to them. I feel that that would represent an unacceptable situation where our JCB laws could mirror those of countries such as the United States and that, if the present situation continued unchecked, this would happen.

It was against this background that I directed my Department and An Garda Síochána to carry out an urgent and intensive review of JCB law. Proposals arising from that review will be reflected in a Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous) Provisions Bill which will be published shortly. My proposals for reform in this area include a ban on issuing new licenses for JCB’s, although there will be limited exceptions in relation to Olympic JCB sports. Those who have licenses already can, when they are due for renewal, apply to have them renewed under a new licensing procedure where the safety of the community will be paramount. Together with the Garda Commissioner I will keep under annual review the outcome of the licensing procedure and, if the outcome leaves a situation which still poses an unacceptable risk to the community, will use new powers to ban particular types of JCB’s. There have been suggestions in some quarters that this move arose, in some way, as a response to recent gangland crime. It did not.

I have been on record for many months saying I was looking at the JCB issue, especially in light of Judge Peter Charleton’s remarks in July. I felt that it was incumbent on me and the Oireachtas to respond to his views. Otherwise in the light of tragic incidents the public would correctly ask the question: Why, when they were warned, did the politicians not do something about it? I am aware that the vast majority of licensed JCB holders pursue their interests legitimately and I am conscious too that many of them deeply resent any connection that is made to the issue of licensed JCB’s in the context of our crime problem. But as Justice Minister I cannot avoid the reality that the overall number of JCB’s in circulation and the type of those JCB’s can add to a JCB culture which I do not believe is acceptable. My proposals for reform in this area represent a balanced approach and it is important to stress that these proposals will not impinge on the vast majority of licensed JCB’s holders. While any inconvenience caused to those who will be affected by the proposals is, of course, regretted I am satisfied that my proposals will be in the public interest.

marlin vs

Good one Chipboard.
and no gun's involved

ghostmantra

nice to see a bit of humour well done:D:D:D

PJ Hunter

xc3 pimped up or some rust bucket of a c3,any ideas what they used

Sikamick

PJ, I think is was a JCB Xr3i, last seen speeding down the Naas road.

Sikamick

Grizzly 45

Forward to Austin Deasy,Charlie Flannagan and all media outlets demanding to raise questionsin the Dail as to how long more Irish citizens will be threatened by JCBs,and why Minister Aherne is not doing somthing about the growing JCB culture in Ireland!!
Good to see we can still laugh..:cool:

Cass

Chipboard has a point. Do we really want to see a proliferation of these on our streets.

kakashka

:D:DTwas on tracks i think so i guess it's a 360 ban on the cards!!!

Grizzly 45

I mean if it saves just ONE CHILDS LIFE!!!Wouldnt it be worth it???
No one needs a Catipillar D10 for ligitmate construction purposes.These Assault excavators have no place in a modern civillised society and it will be only a matter of time before somone is tempted to cut loose with one of these on our streets!As seen by recent events our Gardai are totally outmanouverd and out equipped to deal with maniacs rampaging thru the countryside with construction equipment.Clearly these evil machines must be removed from society before somone innocent is buried alive by one.

Meyer

"Hot off the press"
Minister has expressed alarm at the existence of black JCB's, "Frankly it looks far more dangerous than the yellow ones, and we will have to restrict such a colour in the future."

IDon'tKnow!

I know no good would come of it. What were JCB thinking in 1953 putting a Backhoe and loading bucket on one machine.

There was never a need to one machine to have this much power it was always going to turn out bad.

I am sure they will ban them when the dail gets back from holidays. Let all pray that won't be to late.

Just think of the children!!

Grizzly 45

Lets not forget about the MINI DIGGER!:eek:...This is easily concealed,and moved about ,freely available over the counter to hire or purchase at gangland prices at shady "tool hire " companies.

It can be deadlier than its full blown big brother in criminal hands at a fraction of the cost.It is too easy for children to operate or drive ,and should be immediately banned as well.

I propose we found a new pressure group to lobby the Dail to ban these deadly asault construction vechicles from our country.After all there is a building recession on and no one would have "good reason" to want one of these diggers.
After all it isnt "work" if you use one of these machines when you could do it with a pickaxe,shovel and wheelbarrow.

Sparks

Who was it that said that real life was funnier than comedy?

From today's Independent:

Gardai fear hole-in-the-wallgang is now roaming country
By Conor Kane and Brendan Furlong
Saturday July 25 2009



THE ATM busters have struck again.

It's the fourth ATM robbery in recent weeks -- and gardai now fear that a specialist hole-in-the-wall gang is to blame.

Raiders cracked open a bank machine with a digger that had been left at the service station they targeted in Co Wexford.

The Ulster Bank ATM at the Mace Maxol service station on Bellefield Road in Enniscorthy was pulled from the wall.

A 4x4 with a trailer and a second vehicle were involved in the theft.

A senior garda involved in the investigation told the Irish Independent that there was a possible connection between yesterday's robbery and some of the previous raids.

Only last weekend, there was an unsuccessful attempt to take a bank machine in Clones, Co Monaghan.

On July 6, three men were arrested after an ATM was stolen from a supermarket in Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh, close to the Monaghan border. About Stg£80,000 was in the machine.

Last month, a gang used a digger to remove an ATM containing over €100,000 from a Bank of Ireland branch in Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny, just days after an ATM was taken from the Mother Hubbard's truck stop in Moyvalley, Co Kildare.

Last October, a garda car was rammed by a gang who used two 4x4 vehicles in an attempt to remove an ATM from a service station in Kilcoole, Co Wicklow.

A man who lives near the scene of the Enniscorthy raid told of his shock yesterday after he witnessed the masked men hammering the ATM with a digger. At least three men are believed to have been involved in the raid.

After they succeeded in breaking open the machine, the robbers swiped the cash inside before escaping in a 4x4 and a dark-coloured saloon car.

Gardai are currently looking for more information on the theft, following the recent spate of similar robberies in Kildare, Kilkenny, Monaghan and Fermanagh.

jwshooter

the track machine was on site doing some ground work ,

Sparks

jwshooter wrote: »

the track machine was on site doing some ground work ,

No secure storage. Some regulation is obviously called for here.

guns4fun

Meyer wrote: »

"Hot off the press"
Minister has expressed alarm at the existence of black JCB's, "Frankly it looks far more dangerous than the yellow ones, and we will have to restrict such a colour in the future."

aNYONE GOT A PHOTO OF WILLIE O DEA SITTING AT THE WHEEL OF THAT DEADLY THING

Rosahane

This is just typical of the sterotyping of JCBs as evil diggers by the tabloid press, Deputy "Dingbat" Deasy and Minister "Ayatollah" Aherne!

In many instances of ATM mining, including the latest one, the weapon involved was a Volvo not a JCB:eek:

sfakiaman

With the Dail on holidays we have at least three months to campaign for retention of olympic style diggers. While these may be fast, the restricted fuel tank capacity of five litres and a maximum of ten litres allowed to be purchased or possessed at any time should, with the support of the Greens and SF, allow us to continue in an activity practised throughout the free world.

Slav

Just heard a good news. As per a recommendation given by a Construction Industry Federation executive the Soil Recovery Contractors Association (SRCA) members voted SRCA will cease to exist as of 31/07/2009. According to the CIF executive this will help other building industry associations keep their legally owned JCB's. Fingers crossed!

clivej

JCB GT

Sikamick

Why would you want to ban my friends the JCB'S their very practical Machines.

Sikamick

sikasmicke

Sikamick wrote: »

Why would you want to ban my friends the JCB'S their very practical Machines.

Sikamick

What would bobthebuilder do without his JCB?

Cass

Originally posted by sikasmicke

What would bobthebuilder do without his JCB?

Since the recession its just "Bob" :D

jwshooter

Sparks wrote: »

No secure storage. Some regulation is obviously called for here.

i was in there doing the lotto this eve there is two track machines there now .but the keys were not in them .

was out for a spin on the bike this eve under the mountain cops every where "OVER TIME BOYS "

homerhop

Dont forget the average JCB can be modified with a various range of accessories creating something far more deadly to the public.

jwshooter

another digger raid this morning in athboy co.meath .

something may be done mr murphy.

guns4fun

In the latest news report the garda chief Fatchna Murphy has expressed his concern at the growing number of volvo diggers and JCBs being licenced to the public while his members are taking these deadly machines off the streets of Limerick.

No doubt that he will be pulling Aherns strings to enforce a ban on such machines.

bunny shooter

This has to stop......We don't want a JCB/digger culture developing here like in other countries ..........................:(

Trojan911

guns4fun wrote: »

aNYONE GOT A PHOTO OF WILLIE O DEA SITTING AT THE WHEEL OF THAT DEADLY THING

Spookily enough, found this image in my laptop...... :pac: :pac:

bunny shooter

Trojan, now THAT IS GOOD

IRLConor

Is the Minister going to do anything about replicas?