A man who on two occasions stole drink from Lidl, Castlebar, was sentenced to jail at Castlebar District Court this week.
Garda Patrick McGovern was called to Lidl, Castlebar, on February 23 2011 at 6.15pm after Gela Nadiradze, 627, North Circular Road, Apt 2A, Dublin 1, had been intercepted by the store’s deputy manager for not paying for six bottles of cognac which the defendant had placed in a bag. On the way to the Garda station the defendant pulled two more bottles of cognac from his trousers. The total value of the alcohol was €156.72.
At the Garda station the defendant gave a statement where he told gardaí that in January he also stole nine bottles of whiskey from Lidl.
The Georgian national is unemployed and told the court that he lives off his girlfriend. Nadiradze said that he travelled twice to Castlebar to meet some friends by train; neither time did he he pay for the train.
The defendant, who has been in Ireland for two and a half years, has a previous theft conviction.
Judge Mary Devins convicted and fined him €250 for the theft in January and €500 for the February incident. Nadiradze was also sentenced to 28 days in prison.
