Warrant

A bench warrant was issued at Bray District Court last Thursday for the arrest of Michal Balcerzak (39), Kilpedder.

Balcerzak failed to appear in court to answer a charge of driving without insurance or NCT, alleged to have occurred at Farrankelly Road, on June 22, 2018.

Elaine Hackman (34), 2 Pollards Terrace, Greenpark Road, Bray, appeared in Bray District Court last Thursday.

The theft occurred on August 22, 2018, at 1.10 p.m. She was stopped on the way out of the shop and the property was recovered.

She has 28 previous convictions, but none for theft.

The matter was adjourned to a later date for the production of the report.

Mr Maguire also argued that, legally, it should have been the manager giving evidence of ownership of the property, rather than the security manager.

Inspector Fergal Harrington said that it would be normal practice to bring it to the attention of the store if you wanted to swap an item.

Judge Kennedy granted Mr Maguire’s direction, acceding that with hundreds of people passing through the supermarket, he would not be happy to convict. December 1, 2018, at 11.45 p.m. Gardaí saw him turn around and drive away from the checkpoint.

They followed him and when he was stopped, they smelled alcohol. After testing at the garda station, Stelea was found to have 46 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.

Stelea was also driving without insurance.

Solicitor Joe Maguire said that his client was going through a break-up at the time of the incident.

For the drink driving, Judge Kennedy handed down a two-year ban and €250 fine. For driving without insurance he also handed down a two-year ban and €350 fine.