A man found by gardai hiding under a table in a house he was trying to burgle whilst the residents were still upstairs, was jailed for nine months in the District Court earlier this week (November 11 ).
However, as Brian Quinn (27 ) of St Mel’s Terrace, Athlone had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, Judge Eamonn O’Brien ordered the nine month to run concurrently with the 18 month sentence he had been handed down in the same court on September 16.
Inspector Nicholas Farrell outlined the facts in the case and told the court how Quinn had disturbed the residents of a house in Retreat Park in which he was trespassing on the night of September 15.
He was found hiding under a downstairs table by the gardai who answered the 999 call.
Quinn had previously been arrested on May 26 when he was seen by gardai in possession of a stolen Suzuki quad bike worth €1,000 in Bonnavalley.
Inspector Farrell read some of Quinn’s previous convictions to the court which stretched back to 1994 when the defendant was only 13.
Defence solicitor Mr Padraig Quinn told the court of Quinn’s history of alcohol and substance abuse, and explained how these offences had been committed whilst under such influences.
On the charge of handling the stolen quad bike, Mr Quinn told the court his client said that it “was knocking round the Terrace [St Mels] for a number of days and he was just pushing it up the road towards Willow Park”.
Inspector Farrell told the court the quad bike had been recovered.
“He is in a long term relationship and has five children,” said Mr Quinn.
“He accepts a sentence is inevitable.”
Judge O’Brien sentenced Quinn to nine months on the trespass charge, ordering it be served concurrently with his present sentence and took into consideration the handling stolen goods charge.
