A 27-year-old heroin addict who stole iPhones to fund his drug habit was given two five-month suspended sentences at Dublin District Court yesterday.
Father of one Jonathan Beatty, from Gloucester Place, Dublin, already had 105 criminal convictions and pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing two phones, on June 6th and May 17th last.
Garda Keith Bracken told Judge Catherine Murphy that Beatty stole a woman’s phone from her hand at Parnell Street in Dublin. He had been trying to sell it when he was arrested minutes afterwards.
Garda Liza Young said Beatty took a phone from a woman while she was using it on Lower Liffey Street. He was chased by a member of the public, who got the iPhone back. Beatty was identified from CCTV footage, the court heard.
Judge Murphy heard Beatty accrued many of his 105 convictions while a juvenile. Judge Murphy imposed the consecutive sentences but suspended them on condition he does not reoffend in the next 12 months. “It is entirely in your own hands,” she warned him.