Longford man with almost 100 previous convictions remanded in custody following three further theft charges

Charles Reilly (30) 2 Palace Crescent, Longford was brought before a sitting of Longford District Court last week to answer a trio of alleged theft charges in Longford town between December 9 and 22.

Mr Reilly, who applied for bail, sat in the custody suite of the court, during a 15 minute contested bail hearing.
Garda Lorraine Shiel took the stand to reveal the State were objecting to bail under both O’Callaghan Rules and Section 2 of the Bail Act.

She said it would be the prosecution’s case the accused first entered Aldi, Athlone Road, Longford on December 9 which resulted in the alleged theft of €39 worth of groceries.

Four days later, she said Mr Reilly allegedly entered Johnston’s Pharmacy, 7 New Street, Longford and stole three bottles of perfume valued at €214.

The most recent alleged theft took place on December 22 during which a purse containing a bank card and credit card was snatched from the boot of a car at Tesco Car Park, Townspark, Longford.

In all three cases, Garda Shiel said Mr Reilly was identified on CCTV by investigating officers.

She added the accused was arrested on December 29 and was observed wearing the same clothing at the time of alleged pharmacy theft, revealing Mr Reilly made no admissions to both it and the two other reported thefts during interview.

Not a single item of property allegedly stolen in all three incidents were retrieved, Judge Bernadette Owens was told.

Garda Sheil said the State were also objecting to bail given that Mr Reilly had previously attracted 25 bench warrants over alleged non attendance at various court sittings previously.

She said the prosecution were also steadfast in their submission given that the accused had 93 previous convictions, 68 of which were committed while on bail.

The court was informed Mr Reilly had previously been granted bail on November 26 subject to strict conditions.
Among those were directions for the accused to sign on daily at Longford garda station and abide by a 9pm to 8am curfew.

It was revealed, however, that Mr Reilly had not signed on since December 8 while a curfew check carried out on December 22 found that the accused was not present when he should have been.

In defence, solicitor Diarmaid Quinn put it to Garda Shiel that while his client was acceptive of being on the premises of Johnston’s Pharmacy, he “took no hand, act or part in the removal of goods” from the Longford town store.

Likewise, he said CCTV footage taken from close to the scene of the alleged theft at Tesco Car Park was, at best, inconclusive and “couldn’t make out anybody on it let alone himself”.

Mr Quinn, in addressing his client’s failure to adhere to sign on conditions attached to his bail, said Mr Reilly had made gardaí aware he had been feeling unwell in the week leading up to Christmas only to be diagnosed with Covid a week later.

Judge Owens queried as to why Mr Reilly had decided against contacting Mr Quinn about his health issues, saying it should have been his “first port of call”.

Mr Quinn said Mr Reilly did, in fact, contact Longford garda station to indicate he had been feeling out of sorts and was not in a position to attend and sign on.

In addressing the court, Mr Quinn said the Longford man intended to contest all of the charges before the court and would be willing to stay with his mother who was a “good influence” on him.

Mr Quinn also alluded to how Mr Reilly’s mother would benefit from such a court order being made as she, herself, suffered from heart issues.

Sgt Enda Daly, for the State, said Mr Reilly’s insistence of being unwell and later succumbing to Covid simply “did not wash” given that the accused was still well enough to be allegedly identified at all three of the locations where thefts had been reported to gardaí.

He said gardaí were also resolute in objecting to bail in light of Mr Reilly’s “desperately poor history” of committing offences while on bail.

Judge Owens, in delivering her verdict, said the State had met the threshold required under O’Callaghan Rules and Section 2 of the Bail Act.

She said a separate application to revoke Mr Reilly’s bail was equally justified and remanded Mr Reilly in custody to a sitting of Longford District Court yesterday (Tuesday) via videolink.