Man jailed for ransacking phone shop

By Claire Henry

A man who was involved in the stealing of €33,000 worth of stock from a Dundrum phone shop has been jailed.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Constantin Leonard Magadau (23) of Glenbourne Avenue, Leopardstown Valley, Dublin 18, pleaded guilty to burglary, dangerous driving and failing to stop a vehicle on Main Street, Dundrum, Dublin 14, on June 6, 2023.

He has 12 previous convictions, including theft, road traffic matters, and failure to appear.

Passing sentence on Friday, Judge Elva Duffy said Magadau “caused a very significant amount of damage” by “ransacking” the premises.

Judge Duffy said €33,000 worth of stock and €15,000 worth of criminal damage was carried out. While driving the getaway car, this man mounted a cycle lane and accelerated dramatically, and a detective garda had to jump out of the way.

The judge said the aggravating factors in this case were that there was an element of planning involved, the premises were systematically destroyed, the shop’s owner suffered a significant loss, and significant monetary value items were taken.

Judge Duffy considered the following mitigating factors: his early guilty plea and his admission of wrongdoing. The judge sentenced him to three and a half years in prison, backdated to when he went into custody on this matter. She further disqualified him from driving for five years.

Luigi Rea BL, defending, asked Judge Duffy if she would consider suspending part of the substantial prison sentence, which she declined saying, “This was a serious matter where very serious damage was caused”.

Detective Garda Donal Tully told Emmet Nolan BL, prosecuting, that on June 6, 2023, a security alarm was activated when three men, one of whom was Magadau, used a crowbar to gain entry to Murray Mobile in Dundrum. Magadau climbed into the shop via a broken window, smashed display cases, and put stock into a hold-all bag, which he passed to a second man.

The court heard that Magadau and a second man brought stock from the shop to a nearby parked car while a third man acted as a lookout. €33,000 worth of stock was taken from the shop, and €15,000 worth of criminal damage was carried out. The shop’s alarm company alerted the gardai, and they arrived at the scene and saw the getaway car being driven from the scene with no lights on.

Det Gda Tully said the gardai signalled for the car to stop, but instead it mounted a cycle lane and drove directly towards him, and he had to jump out of the way. Det Gda Tully struck the car windscreen with his baton and shattered it. The getaway car was found abandoned a short distance away.

The court heard that a mobile phone with a screen saver of Magadau was found in the abandoned car. A shop loyalty tag linked to Magadau was also found in the car. Gardai obtained a large amount of CCTV footage from the shop and other nearby premises, and Magadau was identified. He was arrested and co-operated fully with the gardai and admitted that he was the driver of the car.

A victim impact statement from the shop owner was read to the court. In it he said, “I went to the store, and all my display cases were smashed, and my stock was gone.” He also said: “I didn’t sleep at night, and my staff were worried too.”

He said that after the burglary he had to refurbish the entire store and get new cameras, sensor lights and shutters.

“This impacted me more than if my home had been broken into,” he said. “My entire business nearly closed because of this.”

“People like this ruin lives”.

Det Gda Tully agreed with Mr Rea that his client has no problems with alcohol or drugs and was originally from Romania and came to Ireland in 2021.

The garda agreed with counsel that during an interview when asked why he carried out this offending, he said: “I had a childish mind, and I am aware that these people had to work hard for their goods, and I took it from them in a second.”

Mr Rea said his client had family domestic difficulties when he came to Ireland.

Counsel said Magadau worked in construction in Romania and Ireland and has the potential to improve his life.