Man who burgled beauty salon had no memory of incident

A 41 year-old man who was caught in the act of carrying out a burglary at a beauty and hair salon, had no memory of the incident, Trim District Court heard.

Brendan Hand with an address at Elmdale Drive, Ballyfermot and described as a native of Navan, appeared in custody on Tuesday for sentence having pleaded guilty to the offence the previous week.

Judge Eirinn McKiernan was told that the offence took place on December 21 last. Garda received a call that a burglary was in progress, and went to the scene where the defendant was inside and was arrested as he attempted to ransack the premises.

The defendant had 70 previous convictions that related to theft and other offences.

The defence barrister said that the defendant had a difficult upbringing that led to a life involving alcohol, heroin and tablets. He was clear of heroin the last 15 years.

The defendant moved back to Navan and engaged with an addiction counsellor to address the underlying cause of his offending. He was on prescribed medication and took alcohol. He had no memory of the incident.

The barrister also explained that the defendant had been in a very serious car accident. He was very apologetic.

Judge McKiernan sentenced the defendant to four months in jail, backdating the sentence to when he went into custody in December. She suspended the final two months subject to him entering a supervision bond and engaging with the probation service.