A “total picture of utter lawlessness” was how a district court judge described the actions of a homeless man who was jailed for driving into a petrol station with the number plates covered by shaving foam and stealing more than €100 worth of petrol.
The comments were made at Galway District Court this week before a five-month sentence was imposed on Aurelijus Zrielskis. The 34-year-old with no fixed abode pleaded guilty to the theft of petrol, valued at €108.55, from Esso Service Station, Claregalway, and driving without insurance at Glenascaul, Oranmore, on April 28, 2009.
Inspector Ernie White told the court that at 11.30am a car with the regristration number plate covered in “shaving foam” had been driven into the Esso Station by the defendant. A second man then got out of the passenger side and filled the car with petrol before going to the boot and filling a number of drums. The car was stopped nearby and both men were arrested. It was also discovered that Zrielskis had been driving without insurance.
Defence solicitor Valerie Corcoran said that her “reckless” client had driven the co-accused to get the petrol but that he himself did not get out of the car. She added that Zrielskis had no previous conviction for road traffic offences and that his insurance had run out two week before the incident. The court heard that Zrielskis, who owned the car, had only wanted to fill his car with €45 worth of petrol and thought that the other man had paid for it.
Inspector White said that the defendant had 19 previous convictions which were generally for public order offences and some for theft including a €600 fine for stealing a box of frozen chips out of a delivery van in January 2009.
Ms Corcoran explained that the defendant had committed these thefts after his father had died and that he had no money to return home for the funeral. She added that her client had been the lesser of the two offenders.
Judge Mary Fahy pointed out that the defendant had purposely covered the number plate so that the car wouldn’t be detected and to compound matters he had no insurance. Zrielskis was then convicted and sentenced to five months in jail and disqualified from driving for two years.
