This article is from page 14 of the 2007-10-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
TWO young men who stole cider from an apartment in Ennistymon have been warned if they offend again they may face time behind bars.
The warning, from Judge Michael White, came at Ennis Circuit Court as Noel Mullane (25) and Robert Molloy (19), of Ardnaculla, En- nistymon, pleaded guilty to stealing a guitar bag and cans of cider at an apartment in Ennistymon, on August 17, 2006.
In the district court last April Mul- lane had pleaded not guilty and opted to have the case heard in the circuit Co) U ae
Garda Colm Collins told the court that Andrew Hertz left his apartment in Ennistymon at 6am with friends. He didn’t lock the door of his home, but had assumed that the main door of the apartment block was locked.
His neighbour woke at 8am and heard noise from the apartment block. She saw the two accused walking into Mr Hertz’s apartment and then leaving it, with what she thought was a black bag. She alerted the owner of the apartment and the ee KOre
When gardai arrived at the scene, the two accused were sitting on a bench near the apartment block. They were highly intoxicated, said Garda Collins, and he arrested them under the Public Order Act.
“I conducted a quick search of the area and found a black guitar case
on top of a shed close to where they were sitting. It was full of cans of Bulmers,” said the garda.
The guitar case was used to hold the drink, the court heard.
Mullane’s barrister Lorcan Con- nolly said his client was “heavily intoxicated” that night, having been
on a “complete drinking binge in La- hinch and Ennistymon”.
Molloy’s barrister, Michael Fitz- gibbon, said his client had also been drinking for several hours.
“The burglary was solely todo with drink. It could hardly be regarded as a sophisticated crime. The gardai came on the scene. They made no at- tempt to make a getaway. They were caught drinking the cans of Bulm- ers,’ said Mr Fitzgibbon.
Addressing the two accused, Judge White said, “Mr Mullane, this is your fifth conviction since 2002. You are skating on thin ice. There’s one way you will go if you offend again. You’d want to be very careful. Drink isn’t an excuse for this type of behav- elu e
“Molloy, you’re only 19 years of age. You’re in a similar situation. A judge is going to have very lit- tle choice but to send you to prison. That’s the direction you’re going.”
He imposed a one-year jail sentence on Mullane and a one-year detention term on Molloy. Both sentences were suspended for two years.