2 Men Sentenced Over Theft of Beer Kegs Worth More Than $300K

Two men are handed suspended prison sentences at Belfast Crown Court in Northern Ireland over beer keg thefts. (Photo: Elevate/Pexels)

Two men have received suspended sentences over their involvement in the theft of empty beer kegs, totaling over £250,000 ($313,990), BBC reported on Friday.

The men, Eamon Mimnagh and Steven Lavery, were both involved in the beer keg supply industry, owning Kegs Direct Ireland and Kegs Direct Northern Ireland respectively.

Mimnagh was given a suspended two-year sentence for stealing beer kegs worth £202,070 ($253,810), while Lavery received a suspended 18-month sentence for stealing beer kegs worth £50,380 ($63,279), per BBC.

Tennent’s NI Ltd, a County Down-based supplier of alcoholic beverages, reported to the police in 2019 that they suspected a “large-scale theft of empty beer kegs” from its location. According to a prosecution attorney, all beer kegs sold by breweries remained their property, and purchasers had a legal obligation to return the empty kegs — each worth £66 ($82.92) — directly to the distributor or brewery.

The police subsequently started keeping an eye on both defendants’ movements. BBC reported that 916 beer kegs were seen placed onto a truck at Lavery’s shared location in Mallusk, County Antrim, during a surveillance operation in February 2019.

The kegs eventually found their way to Lithuania, where they were unloaded as part of a pre-arranged transaction after the truck was transported to Belfast docks and traced to Cairnryan in Scotland, per the report. The kegs that were stolen have never been found.

Related: Truck Driver Attacked by Alleged Thieves Attempting to Take Off With Large Shipment of Pink Gin

Mimnagh was the target of similar surveillance operations in March 2019, according to BBC, where he was seen transporting kegs to Belfast docks by loading them into a truck. The stolen kegs, which were worth £100,760 ($126,597), were again never found. Then, in April 2019, a second surveillance operation was conducted to watch two trucks being loaded in a similar way.

The trucks were stopped at Dublin ports before boarding a boat with reservations to travel to Germany and then Lithuania, a prosecutor explained. At Dublin Port, 1,842 kegs totaling £101,310 ($127,278) were found.

In court, the defense lawyers for both men expressed remorse for their actions. A lawyer for Lavery said testimonials submitted on his behalf referred to him as an “honourable man, a decent man, very hard working, ready to help and ready to give advice.”

Speaking to the defendants, Judge Ramsey said: “One does not expect to find gentlemen like you in a Crown Court facing serious charges like this. This has been a fall from grace for both of you.”

“You have both indicated how this has brought shame on your professional and personal lives, not just on yourself but also on your families.”

He added that Tennent’s has now “tightened up their procedures” to ensure this sort of theft never happens again, per BBC.

Although their prison sentences have been suspended, both Mimnagh and Lavery have been left with convictions on their names. Mimnagh was ordered to pay £20,000 ($25,131) in compensation to Tennent’s, while Lavery was ordered to pay the company a further £10,000 ($12,565) in restitution.

Read next:

Burglars Take Off With Over $3,000 Worth of Booze From Bowling Club — But Leave the Heineken Beer Behind

Beefeater Gin Owner Pernod Ricard Faces Backlash Over Decision to Continue Exporting Spirits to Russia

The 5 Top-Rated Gins of April 2023

Here at Gin Raiders, we do more than write about current events in gin and spirits. We are the only media property reviewing gins and aggregating the scores and reviews of other significant voices in the gin world in one place. If you’re interested in getting a shot of gin in your morning email, sign up for our Deal of the Day newsletter.