A YOUNG burglar was caught on camera trying to change a stolen jar of 50 cent coins for notes in a petrol station next door to the house he had just broken into.
Gerry Wall (22) and an accomplice also stole jewellery worth €4,030, along with the coins valued at €58, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard. None of the property was recovered.
The court heard that several rooms in the house had been ransacked and €2,315 of damage was caused.
Wall, of The Laurels, Bluebell Avenue, Dublin 12, pleaded guilty to burglary at Hyde Road, Dalkey, on September 9, 2014.
The father of one has nine previous convictions, including theft and handling stolen property.
Judge Melanie Greally ordered a probation report but said she was “not making any promises”.
She warned Wall: “You appear to be coming to the end of the line in terms of lenient treatment.”
She adjourned the case to April 27 next for finalisation.
Garda Kevin Carey told Fiona Murphy BL, prosecuting, that the homeowner returned from work to find his back door window smashed and an open window above the sink. Upstairs he found drawers had been pulled out and several rooms ransacked.
He alerted gardaí who recovered CCTV footage from the service station next door to the house.
The footage showed two men climbing over the fence into the back yard of the house and later coming into the service station and handing over a jar of 50 cent coins to be changed for notes.
Gda Carey showed the CCTV footage to colleagues and within 24 hours Gda Liam Flynn identified the men and said he had spoken to them earlier that day at Bray Courthouse where they had been wearing the same clothes. Wall was later arrested at his home.
Gda Carey agreed with Barry Ward BL, defending, that there had been no confrontation or violence and that the burgled house had been insured.
The court will hear a plea in mitigation on Wall’s behalf on the next date.
Fiona Ferguson