A JUDGE has described the theft from a Limerick man who had previously given the thief a place to stay as a ‘very low” act.
Michael Thompson (45) of no fixed abode pleaded guilty before Limerick District Court to stealing an electric scooter last July from the hall of a house where he had previously been given a place to stay.
Judge Patricia Harney heard that Mr Thompson took the scooter but it was later recovered when he rode past the its owner in the street and the owner recognised his property and got it back.
When he was searched by Gardaí, they found a small amount of heroin in his possession.
Sergeant Sean Murray said that the accused man has 37 previous convictions for offences including possession of knives, theft burglary and failing to appear in court.
His solicitor, John Herbert, told the court that Mr Thompson had only come into contact with the law in the last six years and that it has since “been a cycle of homelessness and drugs.”
Mr Herbert said his client “was in a very bad way,” at the time of the crime. He had been previously invited to stay in the house where he took the scooter and made no fuss about handing it back to the owner when asked to.
“He handed himself in to the Gardaí shortly after this,” Mr Herbert said.
Judge Harney said it was “very low that he would steal, after the person had allowed him to stay in the house.”
She sentenced Mr Thompson to six weeks in jail for the theft of the scooter and two weeks for possession of heroin, the sentences to run consecutively.
