Man who stole antigen tests from Offaly supermarket receives suspended prison sentence

TULLAMORE District Court heard that a man convicted of stealing antigen tests in a supermarket thought they were free of charge.

Judge Patricia Cronin was told that on January 7 last gardai received a call to Dunnes Stores in Edenderry where a man had been apprehended by security staff for stealing five antigen tests.

The tests were valued at €14.50 and the customer had put them into a black holdall. Jason Harford (33), Glasmore Park, Swords pleaded guilty to the offence.

Sergeant James O'Sullivan said Mr Harford had 46 previous convictions, including 15 for theft and last September had received a five-month suspended sentence at a district court in Swords, Dublin. In November 2020 he had been sentenced to terms of four and six months in Mountjoy prison and had also previously received a nine-month sentence for theft.

Segeant O'Sullivan said the five-month sentence had been suspended for 16 months. Judge Cronin noted the latest offence could trigger the activation of a prison sentence.

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Defending solictor Patrick Martin said Mr Harford thought the tests were free and he put them into a bag with other items he had purchased.

The tests were free through the HSE at the time and he did not think they were of “huge value”.

When he was stopped he accepted he had them and accepted he hadn't paid for them.

Mr Martin said his client had a chequered history over the past couple of years but had turned a corner and the suspended sentence related to an offence committed in 2020.

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Mr Harford was now in a much better position and had a girlfriend who was with him in court and he had got accommodation with her.

He was a father of one and in the past he had served some time in custody and dealt with a drug issue as well. The 33-year-old is currently seeking work in construction, the solicitor added, asking the judge for leniency.

Judge Cronin said the difficulty was that on September 8, 2021 a five-month suspended sentence was imposed for theft and four months later a further theft happened.

Mr Martin said the previous matters for which his client was convicted may have been more significant and he repeated that Mr Harford had paid for other items and was passing by the antigen tests and genuinely thought they were free and put them into his bag.

He accepted they weren't free. The HSE had been advertising free tests at the time.

Apart from this matter his client had kept himself out of trouble and he did co-operated when he was stopped.

Sergeant O'Sullivan said he was in the court's hands in relation to sentencing but added it was a rather unusual item that the accused had stolen.

Judge Cronin agreed it was an unusual item but said the HSE was providing antigen tests without charge but they were obtained by going online. Shops were selling them, she said.

She imposed a four-month sentence but suspended it for two years on the man's own bond of €100.

She said she was not imposing a custodial sentence in the case but the period of suspension was lengthier and given that she had heard he had turned a corner, secured accommodation and hoped to get work, there was an incentive for him to remain out of trouble with the suspended sentence hanging over him.