Six month prison sentence for man who stole diesel and groceries in Offaly

A Nenagh man was sentenced to six months imprisonment for committing two thefts in Birr during the February 26 sitting of Tullamore District Court.

Edward Harty, 18 Coille Bheithe, Nenagh, stole €70 of diesel from Loughnane's Filling Station on August 10, 2023. On the same date he stole €100 of groceries from Lidl on Tullamore Road.

Sergeant Brendan Kearns told the court that the groceries were placed in a trolley and the security system locked onto the goods in the trolley. All the groceries were recovered.

The thirty year old defendant had 177 previous convictions, 33 of which were for theft.

READ NEXT: Iconic Offaly castle hotel sold to new owners

The defending solicitor Patrick Martin said his client has two children.

“His brother passed away in 2017. He was very close to his brother and he found it difficult to cope with his death. This led to a lot of his bad behaviour. He has had gainful employment in the past as a farm labourer. He has suffered a lot from his mental health. I would ask you to be as lenient as possible. He is in fact doing quite well at the moment.”

READ NEXT: Offaly driver with clean licence told they have penalty points by insurance company

Judge Andrew Cody pointed out that Mr Harty had been engaging in 'recidivist offending of a very high level' adding that the man didn't seem to be getting the message at all.

He convicted and sentenced as stated.