A man who stole €5,000 from a locked filing cabinet at the premisess where he was a security guard may face a six month suspended prison sentence.
Judge John Lindsay ordered a probation report in the case of Aidan Mooney, formerly of Ardleigh Vale, Mullingar but now living in Cork.
The 49-year-old was a security officer at Market Point when he entered the security office on New Year’s Eve, 2007 and took €5,000 cash from the filing cabinet. The money was rent which had been collected for Christmas.
Following an investigation, Gardaí received a warrant to search the home of Mr Mooney, then at 9a Ardleigh and found €850.
He admitted taking and spending the money.
Ms Patricia Cronin said her client had suffered with an alcohol addiction but had signed himself in for treatment which had lasted 18 months.
In recent times he had also assisted others on the course to deal with their addiction and is now doing well himself.
He had no contact with his family for three years as a result of the incident, she said, pointing out that his life was troubled at the time and he had since done his best to put his life in order.
She said he would like to pay the money back but was currently unemployed because of medical difficulties.
Judge Lindsay requested a probation report to assess what structures Mr Mooney had put in place to cope with his problems and adjourned the case until May 27.
If the probation report is good, its recommendations are to be followed. If it’s not good, a six month suspended sentence will be imposed, said the judge.
