Waterford man flying drone over factory premises denies he was 'causing an annoyance'

A man who was flying a drone over a factory was before Nenagh District Court charged with failing to obey the directions of a garda and causing an annoyance.

Kieran Jones of 9 Deerpark, Clonea Power, County Waterford, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

JJ Burke, a security guard at Carey Glass, Limerick Road, Nenagh, said that Mr Jones came into the office and informed him he was putting a drone over the building.

Mr Burke told he was not allowed to do that but Mr Jones told him: “I am being nice, other people wouldn’t.”

He said Mr Jones said he would stay on the public footpath, but he didn’t.

Mr Jones couldn’t give him any rationale for wanting to make a video of the premises..

“I felt intimidated,” he said.

He was aware that someone in the office rang the gardaí.

Under cross-examination by solicitor Johnny Spencer, for Mr Jones, the witness said that he had not invited Mr Jones into his office.

He further stated that his boss said Mr Jones didn’t have permission to use a drone or make a video.

Garda Sandra Gartlan said that she was asked to attend at Carey Glass at around 12.25pm as there had been a report of a male flying a drone across the premises and making a recording.

She asked Mr Jones to take the drone down, which he did and she cautioned him that he could be behaving in a disorderly manner and causing an annoyance.

Mr Jones refused to leave the area and she arrested him.

She told Mr Spencer that it was later brought to her attention that someone had contacted the Garda station the previous day to say they would be using a drone.

She was aware now that it was not an offence to operate a drone in a public area but it was causing annoyance to the staff who did not want to be recorded in their workplace.

“It might annoy people but it is not illegal,” said Mr Spencer.

Garda Jack Walker, who also attended the scene, said that Mr Jones was filming through the factory windows and said he would not leave the area.

Garda Walker said that he was aware there were certain regulations around flying drones, and Mr Spencer pointed out that this drone was not subject to the guidelines as it was under 250grs.

In his evidence, Mr Jones said that he provided content for statistical purposes, which he did on a voluntary basis.

It started during the pandemic checking to see if people were putting up the right signage. Sometimes he filmed for health and safety reasons and sometimes to check on solar panels, he said.

“I pass the information on to someone I do it for,” said Mr Jones.
He said that he went to the security office at Carey Glass and told Mr Burke what he intended to do.

“He said management wasn’t giving permission and I said I didn’t need permission,” said Mr Jones. “I said Ryanair didn’t need permission to fly over your premises.”

He agreed that Garda Gartlan had repeated her request for him to leave but he had refused.

“My conduct wasn’t offensive. I was operating a drone legally,” he said.

Cross-examined by Insp Amanda Reynolds, Mr Jones said his drone was registered with the Irish Aviation Authority as it had a camera. However, he couldn’t understand why his filming would cause annoyance.

Mr Jones reiterated that he didn’t need permission to fly over private property. He didn’t agree that he breached anyone’s rights as he was in a public place.

Mr Spencer contended that his client had been charged under the Public Order Act but the threshold for a conviction had not been reached.

However, Insp Reynolds said Mr Jones was aware that he was causing offence and no permission to film but instead of leaving he had gone out and filmed in a public place.

Judge Elizabeth MacGrath adjourned the matter to November 3.