Prisoner at large stole items from two shops
A PRISONER who absconded while on temporary release from jail was later caught shoplifting.
Gareth Fay (33), who had been given a week off a sentence but failed to return, then stole detergent and razors from two shops.
Fay, a father-of-three of Griffith Close, Finglas, pleaded guilty to being unlawfully at large and theft charges. Judge Dermot Dempsey gave him a four-month sentence.
Dublin District Court heard the accused took the detergent at Tesco Express, Ballygall Road, Finglas, on December 16 last year.
Razors
He fled and later that day stole €153 worth of razors at Charlestown Shopping Centre, also in Finglas.
This time, he was stopped by security and detained until the gardai arrived. It was discovered that he was given temporary release the previous July 15.
He was meant to have returned to Mountjoy a week later but failed to do so.
He has been in custody on the charges since February 20 this year and although he was granted High Court bail, he was unable to take it up.
Fay had 104 previous convictions and stole to fund a drug habit, the court heard.
The accused had worked fitting kitchen doors.
Judge Dempsey backdated the sentence.