Longford man sentenced for theft charge

Polish born father of one Patrick Mikitow, 39 Alderfield, Farnagh, Longford was given a four month sentence, suspended for a period of four years by Judge Vincent Deane at a special sitting of Longford District Court last week.

That came after Mr Mikitow pleaded guilty to stealing a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey from Tesco, Longford Shopping Centre on May 4, 2021.

Presiding Judge Vincent Deane was told how the accused was observed entering the store with another male suspect where the pair broke a number of security tags from bottles of spirits.

Mr Mikitow's accomplice was apprehended and one bottle of whiskey was recovered, it emerged.

Later that day, security personnel reviewed CCTV footage from the store where, it was detected, a second bottle of whiskey had been stolen with Mr Mikitow being identified as the chief suspect.

Inspector Paddy McGirl said the alcohol stolen by the accused was also not recovered.

The court was further informed of how Mr Mikitow was subsequently charged with two public order offences after gardaí were called to the accused man's address on November 6 last year.

Inspector McGirl said when gardaí arrived, officers came across an “extremely intoxicated” Mr Mikitow whohad been asked to leave by his partner.

The court heard that while Mr Mikitow agreed to initially leave the property, he became aggressive to gardaí as was arrested before being brought to Longford garda station.

The court heard Mr Mikitow had six previous convictions to his name.

Defence counsel Nicola Delaney BL, said Mr Mikitow had been resident in Ireland since the age of eight and was someone who had started out on the right path in life.

She said her client's offending at the time of the Tesco incident, and thereafter, came largely as a result of Mr Mikitow's tendency to “hang around with the wrong crowd” in Longford.

She said Mr Mikitow had been sentenced to 240 hours community service for an affray, a spell the court was told the accused was endeavouring to complete to the best of his ability.

Ms Delaney qualified those remarks by revealing how Mr Mikitow's recent appearances in court and subsequent publicity garnered as a consequence had resulted in him being left jobless.

“As a result of his offending he lost his job after a picture of him coming out of court appeared in the paper. He is now out of work and he has no employment,” she said.

In addressing the public order charges, Ms Delaney the incident in question arose after Mr Mikitow's partner suffered a miscarriage.

She said despite those transgressions, Mr Mikitow had not come to any further adverse attention over the past 12 months.

In delivering his verdict, Judge Deane said while he noted Mr Mikitow's guilty plea for the Tesco theft, the fact it came at the eleventh hour was something he could not give any weight to.

“He is a man with a level of previous convictions and he has been treated very leniently by the courts to date,” he said.

Judge Deane said he was more open to accepting the accused man's contrition for the public order offences before the court as a guilty plea had been entered at a much earlier stage.

He consequently sentenced Mr Mikitow to four months in prison for the Tesco theft, suspending it for a period of four years.

The other matters were taken into consideration.