Suspended sentence for theft of electrical items from Longford supermarket

A man who committed theft at a Longford supermarket shortly after arriving in the country has been given a suspended prison sentence to deter him from reoffending.

Marius Tudorache Catalin (19) of Mountain View House, Hempstown, Blessington, Co Wicklow appeared at last week’s sitting of Longford District Court charged with being in possession of a foil bag and theft of €511.81 worth of electrical goods contrary to section 4 of the Theft and Fraud Offences Act.

The court heard that Mr Catalin arrived in the country from Romania in January and committed the offences on February 28.
When charged by gardaí, he said that the foil bag belonged to him. All goods were recovered.

Judge Hughes asked if Mr Catalin had had any success finding work and was told by the Romanian interpreter that he had not.

“Does he have any intention of remaining in this country?” asked Judge Hughes.

“He plans to leave as soon as possible,” said the Romanian interpreter.

“I’ll release him today,” said Judge Hughes.

Sgt Enda Daly, for the state, explained that Mr Catalin’s address was an issue for gardaí.

“If he commits a further crime, you can pick him up again and he’ll have a previous conviction recorded against him,” said Judge Hughes, adding that he will be handing down a suspended sentence.

Mr Catalin’s solicitor explained that this was her client’s first conviction but Judge Hughes convicted the accused and sentenced him to two months in prison for the theft charge, suspending the sentence for a period of three years.

He also handed down a concurrent two month sentence for possession of the foil bag, and suspended it for three years.