A Waterford man has received a prison sentence for breaking into a woman’s apartment in the city last year.
Mark O’Grady (52) with an address at Apartment 2, Canada House, Canada Street, Waterford, appeared before Judge John Cheatle at Waterford District Court in April. He was produced in court from prison to face a charge of burglary, contrary to Section 12 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, and possession of a knife, contrary to Section 9 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, along with other matters.
Sergeant Michael Hickey told the court that at 8.30pm on 17 August 2025, Gardaí received a report from a woman in Waterford city who said that her apartment appeared to have been broken into. The woman reported that when she returned home, items in her apartment had been ‘disturbed’, and she discovered that €400 cash and two bottles of perfume to the value of €100 were missing, Sgt Hickey said. The accused was identified as being involved by Gardaí.
The other incident occurred on 28 July 2023, at William Street, Waterford city. Sgt Hickey told the court that the accused was found in possession of a pen-knife after he was searched by Gardaí. He emphasised that the pen-knife was not ‘brandished’ by the accused.
It was noted in court that the accused is currently serving a prison sentence for an unrelated matter, and has 66 previous convictions, including several burglary offences. He pled guilty to both of these charges, and other matters that he was appearing for were struck out.
It was also highlighted that no victim impact statement was provided to Gardaí from the burglary incident.
Acting for the defendant, solicitor Ken Cunningham said that his client has “a series of underlying mental health disorders” and that a psychiatric report has been prepared on him. He added that the accused is currently engaging with treatment services for substance issues while he is in custody.
Judge Cheatle handed the accused a 10 month prison sentence for the burglary charge, which will run concurrent to the sentence he is currently serving. The other charge was taken into consideration.
Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme
Robyn Power
