This article is from page 11 of the 2005-10-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
A CLARECASTLE man, who gardai de- scribed as “a nuisance” has been jailed for a month, for stealing alcohol from a shop in Srey ebEse
Father-of-one Alan Kerins (21) of 25 Church Drive, Clarecastle, pleaded guilty to stealing one slab of Heineken – valued at €45.60 – from Statoil, Limerick Road, Ennis on November 15, 2004.
Inspector Tom Kennedy told Ennis District Court that the accused left the shop without paying for the cans, got into a taxi and went home to Clarecastle.
Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said Ker- ins had significant difficulties around drink and admitted he had a “bad record.”
Kerins told the court he had been in contact
with the probation service within the past two months. Judge Mangan said, “You waited un- til the court case was coming up,” to which Kerins replied, “I’ve been trying to see Mary King [probationer officer] for a long time be- fore this.”
Inspector Kennedy said, “I always like to say something positive about persons like Mr Kerins. In Mr Kerins’ case, I really can’t say anything positive about him and his behav- iour. He’s a constant offender. I’d love to be able to say, give him a chance. As far as the State is concerned, he 1s a nuisance, a rascal, a continuous offender and I have no confi- dence in what he says.”
The court heard no compensation had been paid for the stolen drink.
Judge Mangan imposed a one month sen- tence and fixed recognisances.