Two pickpockets were in the country two days when they came to Galway to steal from customers in a city centre pub.
Judge Mary Fahy said she had noticed a trend that a lot of thefts of people’s phones and wallets was occurring in one specific pub and she wondered was it because it might be frequented by a well-heeled clientele.
The judge said she found it “amazing” the amount of ‘intelligence’ that was going on between people coming into Galway to steal.
“They all seem to be heading to the Front Door pub. Is it because they know it’s populated by people with handbags and iPhones and wallets?” she asked.
Before her court were Romanian nationals, Adrian Maracine (34) and Ilie Ion (27) who had been in custody since their arrest in the early hours of Saturday, March 19 last.
Maracine, the court was told, has convictions already for thefts in Germany, Denmark, Finland and Romania.
Both pleaded guilty to the theft of a man’s wallet, containing €300 at the Front Door on March 19 last.
They also pleaded guilty to using the man’s bank card to withdraw money from his bank account on the same date.
Inspector Mick Dwyer said that a man complained to staff that his wallet which contained €300, was stolen from him at 2.05am on March 19 last.
Security staff immediately checked the CCTV and saw both accused take the wallet.
When Gardai arrived at the pub, they found Ion had €950 in cash on him, in €50 and €20 notes. He could not explain why he had so much cash on him.
It later transpired both accused had been looking over the customer’s shoulder when he used his card earlier to buy a round of drinks, and they saw his PIN number.
They then stole his wallet and went to the ATM machine with the card to withdraw a further €500 from the man’s account as well.
Both accused told Gardai they arrived in Ireland on St Patrick’s Day and they could not provide a residential address here.
Defence barrister, Gary McDonald, said his clients told him they came to Ireland with the promise of work and they came to Galway for the Bank holiday weekend and had been in custody for over a month.
He said his clients were willing to pay for their own flights to leave the country straightaway. “There are flights to Romania on Sunday and Monday,” he suggested.
“That’s great. I’m sure there are flights every day,” Judge Fahy replied.
She commended pub staff and the Gardai for their vigilance in apprehending both accused.
Both accused, she said, were caught red-handed taking the wallet and it was all there on CCTV.
On hearing all of the money had been recovered, the judge said:
“That’s very good. The CCTV certainly worked on this occasion.”
She dismissed the notion the accused had come to Ireland or Galway to look for work.
This, she said, was a deliberate act of theft where they went into the premises to take advantage of people getting drink at the bar who would not be looking over their shoulder to see who was looking at their PIN.
Given his previous convictions in other jurisdictions, Judge Fahy sentenced Maracine to nine months in prison for using the stolen card to take money from the ATM machine and she imposed a consecutive three-month sentence for the theft of the wallet, which she suspended for twelve months on condition he not reoffend and stay away from the Front Door premises.
She imposed a six-month sentence on Ion, who had no previous convictions, for the theft of the wallet and imposed a consecutive, but suspended, three-month sentence on him for using the stolen card.
Leave to appeal the sentences was granted.
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