Stole candles and child’s toy from Mr Price, Carlow court told
Mr Price shop in Graiguecullen
A CARLOW man pleaded guilty at Carlow District Court to stealing €82.91 worth of goods from Mr Price in Barrow Valley Retail Park, Graiguecullen on 7 June 2024.
Micheal Berry (34) of St Killian’s Crescent, Staplestown Road stole four Yankee candles, a child’s toy and ice cream from the shop. Garda Willoughby identified Mr Berry from CCTV footage of the incident, as Mr Berry was known to him. On 11 August 2024, Mr Berry was arrested and charged with a section 4 theft contrary to the and made full admissions.
The court heard that Mr Berry had eight previous convictions, the most recent of which was at Carlow District Court on 12 November last year for a section 4 public order offence, for which he received a €200 fine. Mr Berry had one previous conviction for theft, from nine years ago, for which he completed 150 hours of community service.
Mr Berry’s solicitor Chris Hogan said that Mr Berry had been fully co-operative with the gardaí, had returned to the shop and tried to pay for the goods and apologised, and that he had apologised to gardaí.
Mr Hogan said that Mr Berry’s previous conviction for theft was from over nine years ago and that his client was not a prolific offender. He added that Mr Berry had demonstrated remorse for his previous theft by completing his community service order and that he had brought money to court to pay back what he had stolen.
Mr Hogan also said that Mr Berry had experienced a number of tragedies in his family in the past year, including the death of his father.
Judge Geraldine Carthy ordered a probation report to be compiled on Mr Berry, saying that she could not sentence him without it.
