AN AUTISTIC Galway man who said he was bullied by his "serious criminal uncle" into stealing €17,000 cash from employers, has been given a suspended sentence by Judge Martin Nolan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Thomas McLoughlin (31), a father of two, St Grellan's Terrace and Curragh Park, Ballinasloe, said his uncle had stabbed him twice in the past and intimidated him into cashing a forged cheque and stealing money from two shops where he was employed as an assistant manager.
Judge Nolan called them crimes of desperation and said: "He used his head rather than brawn or violence but he didn't use it very well."
He gave him a four-year sentence but suspended it in full.
Charles Corcoran, defending, said McLoughlin's uncle was a "serious criminal" who was "higher up the scale" and had "intimidated and coerced" his client into stealing the money.
Mr Corcoran said this "serious criminal" had driven McLoughlin to the banks to make the fraudulent withdrawals. Gardaí arrested McLoughlin for stealing from the Spar and Mace shops when they discovered he was being held on remand in Castlerea Prison for robbing a Longford post office.
Det Garda Ronan Conlon said McLoughlin made full admissions when interviewed by gardaí and apologised for his behaviour. He said his former partner was under financial pressure at the time.
Det Garda Conlon agreed with Mr Corcoran that McLoughlin was not violent towards anyone in either shop and had not acted in a threatening manner.
Mr Corcoran said in the past McLoughlin had used his ex-girlfriend and a gambling problem as excuses but had since said his uncle made him commit the thefts.
He said a psychological test had shown McLoughlin suffered from Aspergers syndrome, a mild form of autism, which made him susceptible to his uncle's influence.
Mr Corcoran said McLoughlin had a serious alcohol problem which he intended to address by taking up a place on a residential treatment programme.
McLoughlin pleaded guilty to nine counts of lodging and withdrawing money on a fraudulent €8,800 cheque in November and December 2003 and two thefts of cash from the Spar and Mace shops in September 2004 and July 2005.