Jail term for distracting man in Longford retail outlet in order to steal cash from his wallet

A Galway man with 158 previous convictions was sentenced to five months in prison for theft at Longford District Court.

Bernard Ward (37) of 4 Crescent, Ballygar, Galway faced charges that on August 8, 2023 at Lidl, Dublin Road, Longford he stole cash, the property of another person.

Outlining details of the incident that brought Mr Ward before Longford District Court Sergeant Enda Daly said local Gardaí were contacted about an incident at the retail outlet on the Dublin Road.

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Mr Ward had engaged a man in conversation, and when distracted removed the wallet from a bag in the victim's trolley.

He went to another part of the supermarket, removed cash from the wallet then returned to the trolley and placed the item back in the bag.

The injured party did not notice the theft until he went to the checkout and opened his wallet to find his money gone.

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When Gardaí attended at the scene they reviewed the CCTV footage and saw Mr Ward execute the theft.

The victim told officers that he was not threatened by the victim and that Mr Ward had been friendly in his interactions before he stole the contents of the wallet.

The court heard the defendant has 158 previous convictions, primarily for motoring offences, and is currently serving a nine month prison sentence.

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Judge Bernadette Owens described the offence as “a nasty thing”.

Solicitor Brid Mimnagh said the father of five was addicted to drugs at the time of the offence: “He accepts his wrongdoing. He is doing his best now to stay off drugs.”

In concluding the matter Judge Owens imposed a five month custodial sentence to run concurrent to the one Mr Ward is currently serving.