School burglaries are ‘ too prevalent’
A Judge has said burglaries at schools were becoming far too prevalent and they needed to be stamped out.
Judge Keenan Johnson made the remarks at Sligo Circuit Court when sentencing a 38- year old- man who admitted a charge of burglary at St Paul’s National School on February 23rd 2009.
Tommy Irwin of St Joseph’s Terrace, the court was told, had left the country in 2012 after receiving news of a credible threat to his life and he was returned here on foot of a European Arrest Warrant spending the past 30 months in custody on remand.
Judge Johnson said a message needed to be sent out from the courts to deter others from such opportunistic crimes.
He jailed Irwin for five years but took into the account the 30 months spent in custody and suspended the balance of the term on condition the defendant be of good behaviour and enter a bond for 12 months and to remain free of drugs and alcohol.
He must also pay € 1,500 to the school within the next 18 months.
Sergeant Niall Davey told Ms Dara Foynes BL ( prosecuting) with State Solicitor Mr Hugh Sheridan that Gardaí had received a call to the Garda Station in Sligo that two men were seen acting suspiciously near a private house and were observed getting into a Honda car with the caller getting a partial reading of the number plate.
A Honda Accord car was subsequently stopped at Carrickhenry on the Collooney to Sligo dual carriageway. Irwin and another man were pas- sengers while the driver was a woman.
Irwin was in possession of € 360 in cash and the other man, € 180, both sums being seized by Gardaí.
The money had been taken from a cash box in a cupboard and was used to pay for tin whistle lessons and was in a € 10 and € 20 denominations.
A member of the public saw the car parked in a cul de sac and it was there that a cash box was discovered subsequently.
Sergeant Davey said glass fragments were found on the clothes of the defendant and the other man.
When forensically analysed showed consistencies with the glass of the window that was broken to gain entry to the school.
Sgt Davey outlined a number of previous convictions recorded against the defendant dating back to 1999.
The witness agreed that the defendant had a long history of alcohol addiction.
The court heard Irwin left school at 11 and developed drink and alcohol problems. Whiskey was his choice of drink and he could drink two bottles a day.
He has received psychological and psychiatric help and was determined to turn his life around and hadn’t been in trouble for the past number of years. He was the father of two children, aged 13 and 17.
The court was told Irwin was looking forward to the future and that his life was good now. He had spent two and a half years on remand which was described as a significant term.