A Bulgarian national who stole a wallet from a woman in Castlebar was ordered to leave the jurisdiction at Ballina District Court on Tuesday.
Garda John Gallagher outlined that Elenka Yankova, of no fixed abode, was arrested on January 26 this year at 1.30pm on Hopkins Road, Castlebar where the defendant said that she had “nothing to say”. Garda Gallagher said that the defendant was identified on CCTV stealing a brown leather purse containing cash and a passport from a woman’s handbag which was on the back of a buggy in the Enable Ireland shop, Castlebar, on January 23.
Defending solicitor Tom Walsh said that this was an “opportunistic crime” for the 30-year-old married woman, whose husband resides in Bulgaria. €100 was taken from the wallet and the property was not recovered.
Judge Patrick Clyne’s response to the solicitors comment was that “stealing is stealing” and he said that it was a “downright inconvenience” for the woman whose passport was stolen, before adding that “your client knows bloody well where that passport is”.
Inspector Martin Byrne said that the accused claims to be in the country for a week but there are no details of how she got into country nor details of which bed and breakfast the defendant claims to be staying in. The inspector also said that Yankova’s ID might be fake.
Following a consultation with his client, Mr Walsh said that the defendant discarded the bag after it was stolen and does not know where the passport is but had €200 in court as compensation for the aggrieved party.
Judge Clyne asked what is the point of compensation, “so she can leg it back to Bulgaria? The next question is when is she going to leg it back to Bulgaria?” and referring to the case get “shot of it to hell”.
Later during court proceedings, Mr Walsh said that there was a flight leaving on Saturday to Sophia from Dublin.
Judge Clyne ordered that the defendant pay €200 to the aggrieved party and enter a probation bond for two years on the condition that she leaves the jurisdiction no later than February 1 2009 and not to return to the jurisdiction before the expiration of probation bond.
