A young Kilkenny man was recently given a prison sentence for taking cash from his ex-partner on “an ongoing basis”.
Joshua Maher (21) of Fahee, Kilmacow, Kilkenny, was charged with a number of theft offences contrary to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, which related to cash being stolen from his ex-partner over a period of time between 23 January and 11 April this year, and the theft and subsequent withdrawal of cash from a friend’s bank card using an ATM located at Centra, Mullinavat, on a day between 31 January and 1 February of this year.
At a recent sitting of Waterford District Court, it was heard that in addition to the other offences that the accused was charged with, he allegedly stole a further sum of cash while staying over at his ex-partners house on 16 September of this year. He was arrested and made full admissions to this.
Acting for the defendant, solicitor John O’Donohue said that the money was taken on “an ongoing basis”, with the full amount totalling €4,000 when taking the prior thefts into account. The court heard that the accused made a withdrawal of €500 using his friend’s card.
Mr. O’Donohue highlighted that the accused brought €100 with him to court, but this was not accepted by Judge Kevin Staunton, who said it was “absolutely insulting.”
However, the court was told that the accused has paid back a total of €1,200 of the money taken to date.
Mr. O’Donohue stated that his client appreciates that it was “a rather despicable crime” but that he “got into difficulty at the time” and is now working and studying in college. The court was told that the accused has no previous convictions, and that he was pleading guilty to a separate drug offence matter that he was also appearing in court for.
Judge Staunton said that it was “particularly unpleasant crime” and a “disgusting performance” as it involved “a number of horrible thefts of cash on a number of occasions” which left his ex-partner at an initial loss of €4,000.
Judge Staunton imposed a number of 10 month prison sentences on the accused, which will run concurrently with each offence committed, including the theft of his friend’s bank card.
He said that as the accused is a young man with no previous convictions, he would not make the sentence consecutive. The drug offence matter was also taken into consideration by Judge Staunton. Recognisance was fixed in the event of an appeal.
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