Jail for 18-year-old who stole widower’s late wife's ring to buy drugs
An 18-year-old burglar who ransacked an elderly widower's home and stole his deceased wife’s jewellery to buy drugs has been jailed for one year.
The pensioner was in his eighties, the Dublin Children’s Court heard.
The youth said he started abusing drugs to cope with the loss of relatives in the 2015 Carrickmines fire, which claimed the lives of ten people including five children.
Christopher Lynch from Sally’s Rest, Blind Lane, Bray, Co. Wicklow had been aged 17 and still a juvenile, at the time of the incident but had delayed his case by skipping court earlier this year.
Judge John O’Connor said the youth had now “aged out” by turning 18, and had reached adulthood, by the time of his sentence hearing yesterday.
The teen had dodged custody on April 11 due to space shortage at a juvenile detention centre and failed to turn up to his next hearing at the Children’s Court two days later.
A warrant was then issued for his arrest and he remained at large for five weeks.
He had been on remand in custody since May 24 and later entered guilty pleas.
Det Garda David Lestrange had told the court that €1,300 in cash was taken along with jewellery worth €6,850 including an engagement which belonged to the man’s late wife.
A female accomplice was waiting outside at the time of the burglary on April 6 last at the Stillorgan Road, in Dublin.
The elderly widower was not present at the time but arrived when raiders were leaving. Gardaí at Blackrock station were alerted and the teenager was identified from CCTV footage.
None of the property was recovered because it was sold for drugs, the judge noted when the case resumed today.
The court also heard the teenager admitted criminal damage costing €400 to a patio door of a house at The Gallops, in Leopardstown, Dublin 18 on January 29 last and criminal damage worth €650 to a PVC at another house on the same date.
He also pleaded guilty to entering another house as a trespasser on February 29, 2016, theft of €50 from a shop on July 1, 2017, and stealing a wallet containing €70 on June 30 last year.
The teenager furnished the court with a letter expressing his remorse and explaining that he was about to become a father.
The letter was read into the court record and in it the youth said he had lost family members in the Carrickmines fire tragedy and he began “self-medicating” by taking tablets to deal with the grief.
He also said he now wanted to get counselling.
However, Judge O’Connor noted the youth had skipped court previously, escaped from custody when brought on a hospital visit in June and had handed in letters like this before, which he described as “self-serving”.
He also noted the teenager was placed at a high risk of re-offending by the Probation Service with whom he had failed to co-operate when given chances by the courts previously.
He also noted the teenager had sold the jewellery to buy drugs.
“Could you imagine it? This man’s deceased wife, the trauma he would have gone through, his wife’s jewellery and you took it,” the judge put to the youth who didn’t reply.
He said the teenager had created victims, had ignored the courts and continued to be involved in criminality after he had appealed previous probation orders and was released to an appeal of a prior custodial sentence.
The teen’s drug addiction was not a mitigating factor, the judge stressed.
Pleading for leniency, defence counsel Amy Deane asked the court to take into account that the youth was under 18 at the time of the offences and had pleaded guilty to the charges which saved the State resources.
He had become addicted to cannabis, alcohol and unprescribed medication, she said, adding that he was remorseful.
In addition to the 12 month sentence, the judge ordered that the teen was to be on supervised probation for one year following his release.
