This article is from page 12 of the 2009-10-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
A BRAZILIAN national who en- gaged in crime in Ennis has been handed a jail sentence — but he will not serve it if he undertakes to leave Ireland.
Wilker Faria Silva (20), with an ad- dress of Marlborough Street Hostel, Dublin 1, admitted entering a build- ing as a trespasser and committing theft, on August 12, 2008.
Ennis Circuit Court heard that En- nis gardai received a report from a Brazilian national indicating that a burglary had taken place at a house in the Drumbiggle Drive area of the town, in August of last year.
On arrival at the house, gardai dis- covered that a rear kitchen window
had been broken and entry had been EEN NNO m
Several items had been taken from the house.
These included laptops, digital cameras, a camcorder, jewellery and more than €9,000 in cash. The total value of the items stolen amounted to more than €12,000, some of which was recovered.
The accused came to Ireland to work in October 2007. He lived in various parts of Clare and moved to Gort, where he joined a large Brazil- ian community.
The court was told that another Brazilian national was also charged in connection with this incident. His case was dealt with in court in May, where he was handed a six-month
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This was suspended for three years on his undertaking to leave the coun- (ry.
Counsel for the state Stephen Coughlan, BL, told the court that the other man told the accused there was a lot of cash at the house in Drumbig- gle and they both travelled to Ennis. He said the accused told gardai he received €400 for his role in the in- cident.
Garda Michelle Holian said gardai eX bCoaVoxe mM MOT-I MN OCoMOlAeCoomBneCeUAya(elbr-DENys-ks the more culpable.
Mr Coughlan said the case involved “one Brazilian stealing from another. It’s happening regularly.” However, Gda Holian said she could not com- ment on that.
The court was told that the accused is currently serving a jail term for armed robbery in Laois.
Defence barrister Mark Nicholas BL said that his client and many oth- er people came over to Ireland from Brazil full of optimism. However, they weren’t all fortunate enough to secure employment.
“This was driven in many ways by the fact there was no work. This man was not the main mover. It’s an aw- ful shame that they preyed on their own,” he said.
Mr Nicholas pointed out that the sentence handed down for the in- cident in Laois was suspended on condition that his client undertake to leave the country.
He said that while he was not seek-
ing to “export our problems’, it may be appropriate to impose a sentence and suspend it on condition that his client leave the country.
Judge Rory McCabe commended the “swift and professional ap- proach” of gardai who investigated and solved the crime. “I don’t pro- pose to treat him any differently to the way his co-accused was dealt with,” he said.
He said the “proper tariff” would probably be in the range of 12 months, but he would take into ac- count that the accused is young and that a significant amount of the prop- erty has been recovered.
He imposed a six-month term and suspended it on condition that the ac- cused leave the jurisdiction.