Ceremonial chain and tourists’ valuables among goods stolen by jailed thief

By Claire Henry

A man who stole goods worth €41,000 from two parked cars, including ceremonial chains, has been jailed.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Keith Smith (36) of Caretakers Hostel, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty to one count of trespassing and two counts of theft on dates between July 2022 and September 2024 at various locations in Dublin.

The court heard that on September 13, 2024, Smith accessed an employee lift at a Dublin 8 funeral home.

An employee heard the lift moving and went to investigate. The employee saw a man later identified as Smith exiting the lift and challenged him.

Smith immediately fled the funeral home and was later identified on CCTV footage. He was later detained, charged and interviewed.

An investigating garda told Oisin Clarke, BL, prosecuting, that on July 30, 2022, two American tourists parked their car in a city centre carpark while they were waiting to check into their hotel.

When they returned to their car, they found it had been broken into, and their suitcases had been ransacked.

The court heard that jewellery and electronics valued at over €35,000 had been taken.

A cigarette butt found at the rear of the car was analysed, and DNA matching Smith was found. CCTV footage also helped identify Smith. None of the items taken was recovered.

Two victim impact statements were handed to the court but not read aloud.

Insurance covered the items taken, but there was a shortfall of €3,000.

The third and final offence before the court also involved the theft of items from a car parked in a Dublin city carpark.

On April 10, 2024, gardai were alerted to the car park after the owner returned to his car at 5 pm and noticed that it had been broken into.

Items, including his county council ceremonial chain valued at €6,000, had been taken, along with a pair of sunglasses and two jackets.

Gardai obtained CCTV footage that showed Smith and two other individuals taking the items from the car.

The chain was found at the home of one of the co-accused and later returned to its owner.

Smith was later detained and interviewed.

The court heard that Smith has 102 previous convictions, seven of which are from the Circuit Court.

His convictions include theft, burglary, trespassing, road traffic matters and threatening to cause criminal damage.

The gardai agreed with Jennifer Jackson, BL, defending, that her client entered early guilty pleas and that all offences were opportunistic in nature.

The garda also agreed that there had been no damage done to either of the cars and that Smith had a long-standing drug addiction.

Ms Jackson told the court that Smith did not have the best start to life and his father introduced him to heroin when he was 14 years old and he got hooked.

She told the court that Smith was a functioning addict, but when he became addicted to crack cocaine five years ago, he lost his home and became homeless.

Counsel said her client is doing well in custody and, at the age of 36, is embarrassed to find himself in this situation. Smith offered his sincere apologies to all involved.

Passing sentence today, Judge Martin Nolan said it seems that for a long period of time this man was involved in certain crimes to feed his drug habit.

Judge Nolan said Smith is doing well in custody and has ambitions to change.

He said Smith has a long record of convictions, which he must consider.

Judge Nolan sentenced Smith to six months in prison for trespassing and 15 months for each of the theft counts, all of which will run concurrently.