A five-year jail sentence – with the final year suspended – has been handed down to a DoneDeal scammer who advertised and sold stolen livestock trailers.

The scammer – 40-year-old Owen Maughan, from 39 Innishannagh Park, Newcastle, Galway – used the website on a regular basis to sell livestock trailers that had been stolen from farmers who were attending marts across counties Galway and Clare, according to the Connacht Tribune.

The father of five was recently sentenced at Galway Circuit Criminal Court. Among the charges brought against him were two charges of theft and one charge of possessing stolen goods.

The scam artist stole Ifor Williams livestock trailers worth in the region of €6,000 each from marts in Athenry and Tuam in Co. Galway in March of this year.

Maughan – who has approximately 90 previous convictions – was reportedly described by the investigating Garda, Paul McNulty, as “one of the most prolific scam artists in the country”.

The guilty party’s previous convictions included the theft of two other livestock trailers – as well as selling concert tickets, match tickets and car parts that never existed on DoneDeal, the Connacht Tribune reported.

Maughan was allegedly apprehended when Gardai carried out a ‘sting’ operation after contacting him about a livestock trailer – which had previously been stolen – that was advertised on DoneDeal.

Gardai recover stolen items nearly 200km away from farm

It is reported that a cattle trailer and quad have been recovered by Gardai, close to 200km away from where the items were originally stolen from.

The theft of the cattle trailer and quad from a farm in the Slane region of Co. Meath was reported to Gardai on Monday, October 23. The items were believed to have been taken overnight.

However, following a search of a house and sheds in the Killenaule area of Co. Tipperary (just outside Thurles) on Tuesday, October 24, local reports suggest that both the trailer and quad have been recovered.