Sex offender found in possession of stolen items while on suspended portion of sentence 

By Claire Henry and Natasha Reid 

A man found in possession of a stolen motorised skateboard was serving a suspended portion of a 15-year sentence and on bail for 25 other offences, a court has heard. 

The 38-year-old was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for possession of the stolen mountain board and a set of headphones. 

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Jason Paget, who is currently serving a sentence in the Midlands Prison, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of stolen property from an address on Clanbrassil Street, Dublin 8 on December 6, 2021. 

Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Patricia Ryan said the aggravating factors included that he was on bail for 25 offences and under a suspended sentence when this was committed. 

The Central Criminal Court had imposed a 15-year sentence on him in 2011 for aggravated sexual assault.

The final five years were suspended, and he was released in 2018 with the five-year suspended term to begin then. 

She noted the mitigating factors, which included his rehabilitation efforts, expressions of remorse and that he was, in his own words, ‘in the throes of addiction’ at the time. 

Judge Ryan said she was taking into account the sentimental value of the mountainboard – a motorised skateboard – and the amount of work the injured party had put into making it. 

She imposed a three-and-a-half-year sentence, and backdated it to March 23, 2023, when Paget was charged with the offences. 

Paget had been informed in the minutes before he was sentenced today that his release date from his current sentence would be December next, and not in 10 days from now as he and the authorities had expected. 

At a previous hearing, Detective Garda Barry Mulvey told Patrick Jackson BL, prosecuting, that on the date in question, a young woman left the apartment that she shared with her brother at about 2pm.

When she returned later that night, she discovered that her home had been broken into. 

The court heard that the gardai were alerted and CCTV from a nearby business was obtained.

A man, later identified as Paget, was seen with items taken from the apartment. One of the items was a mountainboard.

Paget was later arrested, interviewed and was shown CCTV footage along with other evidence. 

Det Gda Mulvey told the court that Paget has 38 previous convictions, which included a conviction for aggravated sexual assault and aggravated burglary.

The court also heard that Paget was on bail for 25 separate convictions when he carried out this offending. 

Gda Barry Mulvey agreed with Karl Monaghan, BL, defending, that all matters his client was on bail for at the time were district court matters. 

The garda agreed with counsel that when Paget carried out the aggravated sexual assault, he was only 16 years of age. 

Mr Monaghan said that Paget is now an enhanced prisoner and is no longer taking methadone. 

Counsel said his client is working as a cleaner in prison and has caused no problems and is getting on well. 

He said that upon his release his client would like to return to the UK where his family is based. Documents including a Governors report were handed into the court.