A MAN whose addiction “took hold of him” despite his being treated with methadone, a heroine replacement treatment, has been jailed for six months by a Limerick court.
David McNally (40s), of 78 St Ita’s Park, St Mary’s Park, Limerick, pleaded guilty to charges of theft of goods from Ryan’s Centra on O’Connell Street and Dunnes Stores in Limerick City, including razor blades and chocolates.
The father of two had pleaded at an earlier court hearing in Limerick to possession of €1,250 worth of heroine and a quantity of cocaine.
Limerick District Court heard that the accused man had 68 previous convictions, 30 for theft and the rest for missus of drugs, failing to appear in court, and road traffic offences.
His solicitor told the court that Mr McNally – who is in his mid 40s and is a father of two – “has an addiction problem which has taken hold of him”.
He pointed out that Mr McNally’s last conviction for drugs before the courts was in 2003.
“He has been on a methadone programme but he has been struggling lately. He is very sorry for taking the goods,” his solicitor told the court.
Hearing the case before the Limerick District Court, Judge Patricia Harney imposed consecutive sentences of 12 weeks each on the drugs charges upon Mr McNally.
The Judge took the theft charges into consideration and bail was set for Mr McNally in the event of an appeal at €200 of his own bond with an independent surety of €200.