A Galway man, described as a menace to society, was sentenced to 20 months at Galway District Court yesterday for his involvement in a number of burglaries in which laptops were taken.
James Lynch (28 ) with an address at 2 Mile Ditch, Castlegar, was brought before Judge Mary Fahy and pleaded guilty to burglary, theft, criminal damage, and public order offences.
Inspector Pat McHugh told the court that on December 22, 2008 at 9.50pm the defendant was seen breaking into the rear of a house in Moyola Park, Newcastle. When challenged by a female witness he told her to “f**k off” and dropped a laptop at her feet. The value of the property was €620. On the same date the defendant kicked in the front door of another property in the Newcastle area and then ran away. Lynch was arrested on January 26 and admitted taking a laptop.
On November 15 at an apartment in Newcastle Court an accomplice climbed through an open window and then let the defendant in through a patio door. Four laptops belonging to Polish students were taken and only one of them was recovered. The students lost all of their thesis work. The total value of the property was estimated at €3,168.
At Altan apartments in Salthill on January 6, 2009, two males, including Lynch, were seen acting suspiciously in the car park and when the injured party went to his car he found that the rear seat was taken down in order to get to the sound system in the boot. All the wiring was torn out and the amplifier was taken. On January 1, 2009, at 4.3am in Innishannagh Park, the defendant had been found in a intoxicated state. When approached by gardai he said: “F**k off, you smelly pig”.
Inspector McHugh said that there were a number of bench warrants in existance and the defendant had breached High Court bail. He added that the defendant has 40 previous convictions.
Defence solicitor Susan McLoughlin said that the defendant, who is single and unemployed, has a drink and drugs problem and wants to get help.
“I don’t believe he has any problems. He’s offending just because he can. He is a menace to this whole society in Galway and he continues to re-offend,” said Judge Fahy. Expressing her doubts Judge Fahy then asked the inspector if Lynch had provided any help to gardai to get the laptops or the thesis work back. Inspector McHugh said that the laptops had been sold off “very quickly”.
Judge Fahy convicted and sentenced Lynch to a total of 20 months and fined him €100 payable forthwith.
