An American tourist, who had been left to run a hostel in return for free accommodation, betrayed the trust bestowed upon him by siphoning off €2,000 from money paid by other patrons.
The Galway District Court heard last Tuesday how 27-year-old Russell Savala, of no fixed abode, was busking his way through Europe and had come to Galway only two weeks ago. He stayed at Nimmo’s Hostel in Dominick Street where he entered into an arrangement with the acting manager, without the knowledge of the owner, to do some work in exchange for accommodation. However Savala, originally from Fresno, California, then began to siphon off a total of €2,029.72 over the course of six days.
When he was brought before Judge Conal Gibbons this week Savala pleaded guilty to the six counts of theft at Nimmo’s Hostel on dates between August 10 and August 15, 2009.
Inspector Mick Coppinger told the court that Savala had been “placed in a position of trust and left to his own devices”. The defendant had stolen the money from clients who had made payments for accommodation. Inspector Coppinger then stressed that the “quasi-arrangement” between the defendant and the manager for free board had been done without the knowledge of the hostel owner and that once the discrepancies had been noticed the owner had alerted gardai. He also said that the owner had trusted the manager who “is now gone”.
The court then heard that the money, with the exception of €50, was recovered and that the defendant had no previous convictions in this jurisdiction.
Defence solicitor Adrian MacLynn said that because of this “bizarre” arrangement his client had been left in charge of the hostel. He added that Savala had been fully co-operative with gardai during the investigation.
Judge Gibbons convicted and fined the defendant a total of €2,000 to be paid forthwith. Leave to appeal was granted.
