A 16-year-old youth from Tallaght, Co Dublin living with his extended family in the Castlebar area was remanded to St Patrick’s Institution this week by Judge Conal Gibbons after he pleaded guilty to theft from a 75-year-old nun in Castlebar.
The court was told that the youth, who turned 16 at the start of June, had 18 previous convictions from a variety of court districts around the country for offences including burglary, possession of a knife, and drunk driving. Judge Gibbons remanded the youth for a week to hear from the probation service before deciding what course of action he would take with the youth.
Arresting Garda Roisin Loftus in her evidence to the court said that the nun had arrived back at her home in Castlebar on August 12 to find a window open and a number of items which had been on the windowsill knocked over. When she went to investigate the open window she left her handbag down beside the front door of the house. After she closed the window she saw the youth outside her house on the phone and called to him to come to the front door which he did. Garda Loftus went on to say that the youth told the nun that he lived in the house that backed on to hers and had lost a football over his wall into her garden, and asked if he could look in her back garden for it. After a short time looking for the ball, the youth accompanied the nun back into her house and waited there for a short time with her. He then ran out the door away from the house, and when the victim went after him she found that her handbag had been taken, the contents of her handbag included a crucifix and a gold communion pyx.
When investigating the incident, Garda Loftus arrested the youth and he was identified by the nun in an identity parade which the garda arranged in Castlebar Garda station. A day after the nun identified the youth an anonymous call was made to the Garda station in Castlebar telling the gardaí where they could find the handbag and its contents, which were all recovered successfully. Before remanding the youth Judge Conal Gibbons told the youth that he was a great embarrassment to his family and that he had slyly got himself into the house of the nun who by her nature was kind and caring, and warned him that he could sentence him to a very long time in prison if he saw fit to.
