Serial burglar who inadvertently stole woman's thesis jailed
Fiona Ferguson
A serial burglar stole a laptop containing a draft thesis which led to his victim being unable to complete it for her masters, a court has heard.
Eugene Tolan (47) broke into three homes, and stole items including the laptop, many of which were never recovered. Tolan told gardaí he had a baby on the way and needed to buy a pram.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard the woman was unable to complete her thesis for her masters.
Tolan, of West Road, East Wall, Dublin 3, pleaded guilty to three burglaries, two of which were committed on October 10th, 2024 and one further burglary on December 15th, 2024.
He has 23 previous convictions for burglary.
Passing sentence on Friday, Judge Martin Nolan said it was to Tolan’s credit that he turned and ran way on encountering a resident in one of the homes. He said if Tolan had engaged in a confrontation, the sentence would have been doubled.
Judge Nolan said that victims of burglary suffer a loss of their peace of mind, as well as their property. He said one of the victims had suffered significantly by losing the draft of her thesis on her laptop, causing her significant trauma and disappointment.
The judge said there had been a significant gap in offending by Tolan prior to this offending, but he had been drawn back to his old ways.
Judge Nolan sentenced Tolan to a cumulative sentence of three and a half years, backdated to when he went into custody.
Prosecuting gardaí told Rebecca Smith BL, prosecuting, that Tolan broke into two apartments on October 10th, 2024. He encountered the resident in the first apartment and left straight away.
CCTV
Several hours later he broke into a second apartment through an open window and stole property to the value of €4,900, including technological items which had geo-tracking devices. He was identified as a suspect on CCTV and his home was searched.
All items were recovered apart from a PlayStation controller and games, which had been sold.
Tolan was arrested and made full admissions. He told gardaí it was stupid and he was sorry. He said he had a baby on the way and would have to buy a pram.
In the following December he broke into a further apartment and stole items to the value of €3,000, including a laptop containing a woman’s thesis. These items were not recovered and the woman could not complete her thesis. Tolan was again identified on CCTV, looking directly at the camera.
Victim impact statements were handed into court and read by the judge.
Amy Heffron BL, defending, said that prior to these offences there had been a long gap in offending and Tolan had managed to “get clean” for 12 years. He was deeply affected when his parents passed away in 2021 and 2023 which “sent him down a bad path.”
Counsel said Tolan has expressed remorse and asked the court to be as lenient as possible.
