Man is jailed for interfering with cars and theft

A MAN with no fixed address was jailed for six months after he was seen trying to open cars in the centre of Wexford town.

Garda Declan Mulqueen arrested Marcel Maguire after tracking him down to Dunnes Stores, where the defendant attempted to steal some food served up at the deli counter.

Various offences were committed on June 24 and then dealt with in the District Court six days later.

The judge heard from the garda how Maguire took a wallet priced at €6 without paying from Penneys. The alarm was later raised when the 26-year-old was seen trying to open vehicles, first on Crescent Quay and then at Crescent Quay Street.

He was tracked down to Dunnes where the garda observed the defendant on the store’s security camera system walking past all points of payment after he was served at the deli.

Defending solicitor Lana Doherty told the court that her client had 14 siblings. Maguire had been taken into care as a baby and his father had received a jail term for neglect of his family.

The accused had started taking drugs as a teenager and Ms Doherty referred to his having had contact with both Merchant’s Quay and Cornmarket Project organisations. She reckoned that he was in a drunken stupor when committing the offences being considered.

Judge Brian O’Shea noted that the events described by Garda Mulqueen occurred within weeks of Maguire’s release from a previous prison sentence.

The court gave him credit for his early plea of guilty and noted that he had experienced a difficult upbringing.

However, jail was merited, with the six months arrived at as follows: two months for the theft from Penneys, two months (consecutive) on the first count of interfering with a vehicle, two months (concurrent) for the second such count, and two months for the theft from Dunnes Stores.