A total of nine months was imposed on a man who attempted to steal nearly €700 worth of perfume using a cardboard box lined with tinfoil to fool security sensors.
Vitalig Matiss (24 ) with an address at Abbington, Murroe, Limerick, appeared before Judge Mary Fahy last Monday and pleaded guilty to being in possession of a cardboard box lined with tin foil with the intention that it be used in a theft at Debenhams, Eyre Street, on March 18 2009. He was also charged with stealing an assortment of perfume, valued at €633.
Inspector Mick Coppinger told the court that at 4pm the defendant entered Debenhams and tried to steal €633 worth of perfume by placing it “in a bag designed to fool security” systems and left without paying. He explained that the defendant had been in possession of a “cardboard box lined with tin foil so that sensors don’t go off or so the theory goes”.
The court then heard how Matiss has 20 previous convictions. A prison sentence had been imposed in January 2008 for five offences which included theft and using a false instrument. Also in 2008 there were convictions for forging prescriptions.
Defence solicitor Adrian MacLynn said that his client, a Latvian national, had come to Ireland in 2005 and was “rendered unemployed”. Regarding the latest incident Mr MacLynn said that there had been “no ingenuity as he had been caught on CCTV”.
“This is not a case of stealing for food. The value of this property was nearly €700. It is obvious it was done for re-sale purposes to make a gain,” said Judge Fahy who then imposed a total of nine months jail and granted free legal aid.
