A Waterford District Court Judge recently told a man convicted of stealing money from a church that he committed a “most abhorrent” and “all time low” offence.
John Hennessy (42) of McGwire House, Bath Street, Waterford, appeared before Judge Kevin Staunton in court earlier this month via video link from Cork Prison, where he pleaded guilty to burglary, contrary to Section 12 (1)(b) and (3) of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001. This related to an incident in January of this year, where money was stolen from St. John’s Church, Parnell Street, Waterford.
Sergeant Michael Hickey told the court that on 12 January, Gardaí were called to the church following a report from the caretaker that the front door had been damaged, a window was smashed and the coin-box safe was damaged and money missing.
Sgt. Hickey said a total of €1,350 was taken from the safe, and some of it was later recovered.
A man who was identified as the accused was arrested by Gardaí following the incident after they observed him on Parnell Street with the coins in his possession.
After jurisdiction in the case was accepted by Judge Staunton, the defendant stated that he was pleading guilty, and wanted the matter to be dealt with on the day, rather than having it put back to a later date.
Sgt. Hickey added that the accused has several previous convictions, which includes burglary, theft, criminal damage and other matters. He last appeared before the courts in September 2025 for a theft offence, and was last in court for a burglary matter in 2014.
Acting for the defendant, solicitor Ken Cunningham said his client went into custody in January following the incident, after he had been “effectively caught red-handed.”
He added that the accused has gone through periods of homelessness in the past and suffered from substance misuse and addiction problems.
Mr. Cunningham also highlighted the earlier interjection of the accused to say he was pleading guilty, saying this meant he had done so at the earliest possible opportunity.
The solicitor asked Judge Staunton to take all of these circumstances into account as mitigation. The Judge acknowledged that the accused has a “large” number of previous convictions, and said that we live in a period of time where respect for the church is not as high as it might have been before.
He told the accused that the offence was “most abhorrent”, an “all time low” and that stealing from a church is “almost hard to describe.” After the defendant said that he was “disgusted” with himself for what he did, Judge Staunton replied: “so you should be.”
Judge Staunton handed the accused a 10 month prison sentence, which will be backdated to when he first went into custody in January. Recognisance in the matter was fixed in the event of an appeal.
Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme
Robyn Power
