Limerick man stole thousands from charity shop 'out of desperation' following relapse

A JUDGE has been urged not to jail a recidivist criminal who stole over €2,000 from a St Vincent De Paul charity shop in Limerick city.

Michael Sheehan, aged 37, of Cliona Park, Moyross came before Judge Colin Daly after he admitted taking a "significant amount of money” from the premises at Mungret Street earlier this year.

John O'Sullivan BL, prosecuting, outlined the facts of the case with the assistance of Detective Jonathon Finn who described to the court how a masked Mr Sheehan used a crowbar to break into the charity shop in the early hours of February 23, 2025.  

The court heard that CCTV footage of the incident showed the man removing the till and the safe from the shop at around 5.30am.

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Mr Sheehan left the scene in a white van which was driven by an accomplice, who he has refused to name. 

The crime scene was forensically examined following the burglary and blood found at the premises was a DNA match for Mr Sheehan. 

When he was subsequently arrested at his home by gardaí, the defendant was found to be in unlawful possession of a single shotgun cartridge. Videos of the ammunition were also discovered on the man’s phone. 

Mr Sheehan told gardaí that he found the cartridge on the floor at a Boyle Sports premises and Johanna O'Connor BL said her client's position is that the ammunition was not “for nefarious purposes”. 

The court heard that Mr Sheehan has come to “considerable garda attention” since 2013 and has 80 previous convictions, including a number for burglary and theft. He has two convictions for the sale and supply of drugs and previously received a lengthy prison sentence for dangerous driving causing serious harm at Parteen on the outskirts of the city. 

Ms O'Connor added that Mr Sheehan has a serious drug addiction and that he committed the offence in an attempt to repay a drug debt following a relapse. The barrister further added that “there has been no violent element to his offences”. 

In a plea of mitigation, she said the offence was “limited in its pre-meditation” and was “done out of desperation”. She said that as burglary goes, Mr Sheehan’s offence was not in the mid-range or high-range category.

The barrister told Judge Colin Daly that while “there’s no shying away from his previous convictions” Mr Sheehan “really hopes to alter his life at this juncture”.

She pleaded on behalf of her client for “a last chance for him to rehabilitate himself”. 

The man offered €1,000 in restitution for St Vincent De Paul. 

Judge Colin Daly will impose sentence this Thursday.