'Fat' Freddie Thompson’s ex father-in-law may avoid a prison sentence for the theft of items from a delivery van if his engagement with the Probation Services is positive.
Veteran criminal Noel Dempsey, 66, was convicted earlier this year at Swords District Court of the theft of two Canon printers and a PlayStation 4 from a Nightline delivery van as the driver made a delivery on November 13, 2019. That conviction was imposed in March when the case was in for hearing.
However, Dempsey did not appear before the court on that date and Judge Dermot Dempsey convicted him in his absence. A bench warrant was then issued for his arrest for the purpose of sentencing him.
Yesterday, Dempsey, of Stanaway Road, Crumlin, Dublin 12 appeared before Judge Dempsey at Balbriggan District Court where he was due to be sentenced. Garda Doireann Byrne gave evidence Dempsey and his accomplice were followed in their Audi A3 by an off-duty garda who had spotted the van's doors slightly ajar in Swords, Co Dublin in November 2019.
Dempsey was ineligible to hold a driving licence at the time as he has been disqualified from driving for ten years after he was caught without insurance in 2016. He also received a four month prison sentence for that offence. After being arrested and charged by uniformed gardai, Dempsey's accomplice, Anthony Cullen from Herberton Park in Rialto, said: "Sure what can I say, I'm caught by the b*****ks". Cullen was given a suspended sentence.
The items were recovered and in a resalable condition, the court heard. Dempsey, whose daughter Vicky was mob boss 'Fat' Freddie's partner for several years, has a long criminal record going back decades.
The court heard he has a total of 105 previous convictions. These include 37 convictions for thefts, 50 for road traffic offences, six drug related offences and four public order offences dating back from 1993 to 2017. He was jailed for 14 months in 2017 for stealing almost €2,000 worth of “hot pants and things like that” from the back of a delivery truck. That offence took place on August 13, 2013 on Wicklow Street in Dublin.
The women’s clothes, described in court by a barrister as “hot pants and things like that” which were never recovered, were valued at €1,988. Dempsey’s solicitor Fiona D’Arcy told the court that he is “in very bad health at the moment and has difficulties.”
“He hasn’t been in trouble since and the property was recovered,” Ms D’Arcy said. When asked by Judge Dempsey if the defendant has been the subject of the Probation Services, Ms D’Arcy said she is instructed that he has never engaged with the service.
Judge Dempsey ordered a Probation Report “taking in regard his health conditions,” and adjourned the case for finalisation in February next year. 'Fat' Freddie - who was in a relationship with Dempsey’s daughter Vicky for almost 18 years before they split six years ago - is currently serving a life sentence for the Kinahan-Hutch feud-related murder of Daithi Douglas in 2016.
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