Offaly burglar caught in stolen car in Galway

A MAN who is now 31 has spent nearly 12 years in prison since the age of 14, Tullamore Circuit Court heard.

A four-year sentence, with the final two years suspended, was imposed on James Ring, Bohermore, Galway, after the court heard how he had been caught in a chase after stealing a car in Clara.

Mr Ring had previously admitted a burglary at Sisters Hair Salon, Clara between April 8 and 9 last year and last week he pleaded guilty to getting into another person's vehicle and entering Hanamy's garage as a trespasser and committing theft.

Shane Geraghty, BL, prosecuting, told Judge Karen Fergus that Mr Ring was currently serving a sentence and was due for release on October 17 next.

Detailing the Clara offences, Detective Garda Pat O'Connell said that Caroline Collins entered her salon at 6.45am because she was running a Herbalife breakfast club and she noticed there had been a disturbance.

Entry had been gained through the roof causing €400 worth of damage and Herbalife products such as protein cans, shakes, coffees and teas worth €1,400 had been taken.

Det Garda O'Connell also said the front door of Hanamy's had been forced and a number of car keys were missing.

A drill was found on the roadway and a shovel from a shed at the salon was also recovered. The incident was captured on CCTV at 4am.

Mr Ring got into two vehicles but did not take anything from them but a third car was stolen and he was apprehended in it in Co Galway after a pursuit.

The court was told he had admitted the theft of a Peugeot car in a different court and received a nine-month sentence.

Det Garda O'Connell also said a footprint had been left by the accused on a piece of paper at the salon in Clara and it matched runners belonging to Mr Ring.

Though he couldn't be identified on the CCTV footage, the clothing he was wearing were his and forensic evidence, including evidence from the shovel, was also gathered.

The detective garda said Mr Ring admitted the Clara offences straight away when interviewed and an attempt to recover the property stolen from the salon failed because it was gone from where he had left it.

The man had a total of 121 previous convictions, 48 of which were for road traffic offences, 39 under the Theft and Fraud Act and 37 for burglary.

In addition to the conviction for car theft arising from the Clara incident, Mr Ring had been convicted of dangerous driving and was disqualified for 10 years.

The garda said the accused had a very bad drug problem and that was what led to the offences.

Replying to Michael Cooney, BL, defending, Det Garda O'Connell said the items stolen from the salon could not be recovered because machine work had been done on the land where they were left in Co Roscommon.

The man had been in custody since September last year when he was brought in for questioning and a doctor had to be called during the interview because he was high on drugs.

The court also heard a friend of Mr Ring had committed suicide and his partner was pregnant at the time of his offending.

Pleading for mitigation, Mr Cooney said Mr Ring was now on methadone in prison for the first time and since the age of 14 he had spent 11 years and 11 months in prison.

Mr Cooney said the man now wished to get off drugs and he had attained certificates in prison for soccer training and first aid.

A father of two, a place was available for him to take up football coaching if he was freed from prison.

Mr Cooney said the accused had written a letter to the court in which he apologised to the victims.

He had committed the crimes for drug money, added counsel, and having tried “cold turkey” before, he fell back to his old ways.

Mr Cooney asked that the nine-month sentence from Co Galway be taken into account, along with a year and six-month sentence which had been imposed on him in Mullingar.

The barrister said Mr Ring could be well behaved when not in the throes of addiction and he knew that if he did not deal with his addiction now he would end up with a very long prison sentence or in the grave.

Judge Fergus said the maximum sentences were 14 years for burglary and three months for interfering with motor vehicles.

Aggravating factors in sentencing were his appalling record and high risk of reoffending while the mitigating factors were his early plea, his expression of remorse and his desire to change his life.

Because the burglary offences were in the middle range, the sentence would be six years and she mitigated that to four years, with the final two suspended for three years on condition he enter into a peace bond and remain under the supervision of the probation service for two years after his release.

She took into account the other two offences and backdated the sentence for six months to December 11 last year.