Limerick man with 108 previous convictions stole from same shop twice in one week

A LIMERICK man with 108 previous convictions has been granted bail following a spate of theft offences across the city.

Dermot Calvert, aged 31, of Fairview Crescent, Garryowen, pleaded guilty to all charges, including one criminal damage matter, before Judge Andrew Gubbins at a vacation sitting of Limerick District Court. He was arrested on August 25 and brought before the court last Wednesday. A bench warrant for the man was also executed.

Judge Gubbins heard that on July 28 at 3:12pm, Mr Calvert was exiting a car in the city centre with a handbag on his arm. He subsequently fled on foot after spotting gardai but was later located by authorities while still in possession of the bag. After being conveyed to Roxboro garda station, Mr Calvert admitted that he entered this vehicle and stole the item. All contents were recovered in this case.

Just over two weeks later on August 12, gardai received a report that a rear car window had been smashed close to the Parkway Shopping Centre. They attended the scene and learned that a laptop, valued at €400, and iPhone had been taken from the vehicle during the incident. Mr Calvert was identified as the culprit through CCTV footage and made full admissions to gardai in a subsequent interview. Damage to the value of €300 was caused to the car window and the laptop was never located.

Limerick District Court heard that on August 16, a theft was reported to authorities by staff at Boots on the Childers Road. In this case, Mr Calvert entered the store and took a Remington hair straightener worth €140 before passing all pay points and exiting again. He was identified via CCTV footage obtained from the shop and the hair tool was not recovered.

Dermot Calvert entered the same Boots store again on August 22 and placed €417 worth of cosmetics into a bag he had brought with him. Following his arrest, he made full admissions to gardai on this matter. The items were never located.

Judge Andrew Gubbins was informed that the 31-year-old has 108 previous convictions, including 31 for theft, nine for possession of articles, 13 for burglary, one for assault, two for attempted theft, 15 for criminal damage, five for failure to appear in court, two for obstruction and one for misuse of drugs, with the remainder being for road traffic offences.

Representing Mr Calvert, Solicitor Tom Kiely reminded the court that his client entered a guilty plea to all matters at the earliest opportunity and was co-operative with gardai when arrested. Mr Kiely put to the court that the defendant is young in age, struggles with addiction and has had a somewhat difficult life in which his little sister passed away in recent years.

Upon hearing facts of the case, Judge Gubbins sentenced the Garryowen man to five months in custody for the theft and criminal damage charges arising from August 12 near the Parkway. All other charges were taken into consideration.

The sentence was immediately appealed by Mr Kiely and Dermot Calvert was therefore released on bail subject to a €200 own bond and €200 cash lodgement.

Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme.