A Waterford court was told that a Ukranian refugee who committed three thefts over the course of two months had “no logical reason” for doing it.
The man, who is in his 50s and cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before Judge Kevin Staunton at a January sitting of Waterford District Court, charged with three counts of theft contrary to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.
The court heard that items were taken by the accused from the Aldi store in City Square Shopping Centre, Waterford on 4 September, 13 September and 12 October, 2025.
It was stated that items to the values of €16, €43 and €39.99 were taken on separate occasions, and none of the items were recovered nor returned. Gardaí identified the accused as being involved from CCTV footage.
Acting for the defendant, solicitor John O’Donohue said that the accused and two others were involved, but they were in court for separate charges.The solicitor highlighted that his client had “no reason or idea why he did it” but returned to the shop and paid back the value of the items. He added that the accused wished to apologise for his actions.
Mr. O’Donohue added that his client is a Ukrainian national, and a mechanic who came to Ireland while fleeing the ongoing war and has suffered with mental health problems in the past. The solicitor also stated that they were “relatively minor” thefts, highlighting again that he had “no logical reason” for doing it. It was an ‘impulse’ and he apologises for it. It was highlighted that the accused has no previous convictions.
Judge Staunton said that they were ultimately shoplifting offences, and decided to hand the accused a €150 fine on each charge, totalling €450 in fines.
However, the Judge told Mr. O’Donohue that his client will be in “very serious trouble” if it happens again.
Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme
Robyn Power
