Portarlington man found asleep in back of woman's car receives prison sentence

A three month custodial prison sentence was handed down to a man by a Naas District Court judge on Thursday, April 7.

Rainis Koovit, with an address at 387 The Sycamores, Kilnacourt Woods, Portarlington, was found guilty of a trespassing incident on April 15, 2020.

Garda Sergeant Brian Jacob told Judge Zaidan that the 25-year-old defendant had broken into a woman's car in Newbridge at night and proceeded to sleep in the backseat of it.

When the woman discovered him asleep in her car at around 8.30am, she rang the gardaí.

He added that Mr Koovit did not damage the car in any way, but the incident did shock the injured party.

Mr Koovit was in custody on other matters when he appeared in Naas Court.

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‘JUST DESPERATE’

The defendant's barrister, Aisling Murphy, told Judge Zaidan that her client had an addiction to heroin.

She also said that he and his mother were kicked out of their homes and ended up on the streets.

Ms Murphy claimed that, since being in custody, her client has remained drug-free, and is 'on the verge of qualifying as a personal trainer.'

She added that Mr Koovit is also undertaking an art course.

"He is very apologetic over the incident: he was just desperate.

"There was no malice involved in this case," she concluded.

In a previous hearing, Ms Murphy applied for a strike-out for her client, but was unsuccessful.

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PAST OFFENCES
Sgt Brian Jacob then told Judge Zaidan that the defendant had a total of 26 previous criminal convictions.

Of these, eight were for theft, one was for robbery, five were for public order offences, and two were for burglary.

VERDICT

After consideration, Judge Zaidan sentenced Mr Koovit to three months in prison, citing his past convictions.