Suspended sentences for pair who gave ‘cock and bull’ story following damage to clubhouse at Ballymore GAA grounds

A man who caused €45,000 worth of damage to a GAA club in Ballymore by reversing into the gable wall, and his partner, who gave a false report to both gardaí and her insurance company afterwards, have been handed suspended prison sentences.

Stephen Bowling (36) and Tina Egan (49), both of 10 Silveroe Drive, Boyle, County Roscommon, appeared at a recent sitting of Longford Circuit Court, where they were sentenced for their offences.

Mr Bowling entered a guilty plea to criminal damage at Ballymore GAA Club in November, and subsequent guilty pleas in February to charges of failure to keep the vehicle at the location, failure to report the occurrence of an incident, driving without a licence, driving without insurance, and dangerous driving, all on July 22, 2023.

His partner, Ms Egan, entered a guilty plea to a charge of making gain or causing loss and of giving false information to gardaí.

At a Circuit Court sitting in February, Judge Kenneth Connolly heard evidence of how, on July 22, 2023, Mr Bowling had taken his partner’s car to the GAA club car park and was doing “doughnuts” before reversing into the gable end of the building, causing significant structural damage to the club dressing room and toilets.

CCTV footage showed a black Nissan Qashqai driving in circles in the car park, before going out of view of the camera. The car was then seen driving in the direction of the lake, while plaster could be seen falling from the wall.

Later that day, Ms Egan made a report to gardaí in Boyle, stating she had been in a hit and run incident in Forgney, County Longford, with a red Audi, which she said had hit her from behind before driving off.

She said she was unable to get the registration of the car and that neither her, nor Mr Bowling, who was a passenger in the car, had been injured.

A couple of days later, Ms Egan made a report to AXA insurance, with a further detailed statement regarding the fictitious incident, given on August 1 to an inspector who visited the scene of the false hit and run.

The GAA club have had to go through their own insurance company, receiving a total of €44,773. However, €10,000 was spent on bollards, gates and perimeter locks to protect the club from any similar incidents, and the club do not believe the insurance payout will cover the damage.

Furthermore, the club have experienced “considerable financial loss” due to a “severe restriction” on holding games and events at their grounds.

Mr Bowling has five previous convictions, the court heard, including public order, while Ms Egan has no previous convictions. “The circumstances are worrying in their level of deceit,” said Judge Connolly.

“It is extraordinary that the story was so perfected immediately after the incident and that it was carried to gardaí, to AXA, and to the investigator on the scene.”

He referred to Ms Egan as “the brain of the operation”, adding that he does not apply to Mr Bowling “the genius of coming up with this cover story”.

Ms Egan’s offending, he said, was “more significant” than her partner’s. While she was not involved in the criminal damage aspect, and she was unaware her car was missing at the time, she “seems to have been an utterly willing participant to adopt Mr Bowling’s story and modify it”.

He listed Ms Egan’s “cock and bull story she fed to the gardaí and her insurance company”, as well as the “level of deceit and the detail of the false information” as aggravating factors in her case, as well as the “florid details of the circumstances of this non-event involving this phantom Audi and its phantom driver”.

“It’s a shame she doesn’t apply her talents in non-nefarious ways,” he said.

Turning to sentence for Mr Bowling, Judge Connolly proceeded to impose two years’ imprisonment for the criminal damage charge. For failing to keep the vehicle at the location and failing to report the occurrence of an incident, he imposed two months concurrent on each.

The charge of driving without a licence was taken into consideration, while disqualifications of two years and six years to be served concurrently were imposed for driving without insurance and dangerous driving.

However, due to the “peculiar circumstances” in the case, including Mr Bowling’s mental health difficulties among other mitigating factors, he chose to suspend all custodial sentences imposed for a total of five years.

That suspension was subject to a number of conditions, including that he establish within 14 days a standing order to the value of €15 per week to Ballymore GAA to compensate the club for some of its losses.

For Ms Egan, he imposed a total of 240 hours of community service to be completed within 12 months in lieu of 16 months in prison for the charge of giving false information to gardaí.

“This has caused me considerable difficulty as she clearly deserves a prison sentence,” he said of Ms Egan’s report to her insurance company.

But he added that Ms Egan had “substantial responsibilities” and that her relationship with Mr Bowling was one of “symbiosis” where “one cannot survive without the other".

With that in mind, he suspended a sentence of two years for a total of three years subject to a number of conditions, including that she set up a standing order of €10 per week to Ballymore GAA, to be paid for five years.