Nine men charged in connection with supermarket looting
NINE men appeared at a special court sitting yesterday after the looting of two supermarkets in south Dublin on Friday night.
The men appeared in the Criminal Courts of Justice yesterday morning after a Lidl store in Fortunestown Lane in Tallaght was raided and looted, and a Centra at Kiltalown, Tallaght, was broken into.
Six men were charged in connection with the incidents at Lidl and three at Centra.
John Kelly (48), of Allen Hall, Tallaght, is accused of handling stolen property at Lidl, namely a safe. The court heard he was a widower whose wife died of cancer in December and looked after two sons.
Paul Freeman, of Russell Green, Tallaght, was accused of trespass at Lidl. Keith Kelly (46), of Suncroft Park, Tallaght, was also charged with trespassing on the grounds of the Lidl store.
Edgar Cesynas, of Silken Park Drive, Citywest, was charged with theft at Lidl. Pouilas Gneizecius (20), from Clonsilla, was charged with possession of stolen property. Both are from Lithuania. Gerard Buggle (38), of Mac Uilliam Lane, Tallaght, was charged with theft.
The court heard gardai were called to the Centra store after 8pm on Friday and found the door smashed in.
Mohammad Smeu (25), from Santry, north Dublin, is charged with burglary and possession of a weapon, a sledgehammer. The court heard he was stranded on the south side “due to snow”.
John Doyle (37), from Russell Square, Tallaght, and David Bernie (36), of Suncroft Park Tallaght, were both charged with burglary.
David Bernie said: “CCTV will vindicate us. We are not the ones who broke into that shop and CCTV will prove that.”