Man told to leave Mayo after stealing from two supermarkets

A man was told to leave Mayo after he was convicted of stealing from two supermarkets.

Ferencz Nagy, aged 35, of Gardiner Street, Dublin 1, appeared before a sitting of Ballina District Court where he pleaded guilty to stealing alcohol and groceries from two supermarkets in Ballinrobe.

Gardaí received a report at 1 p.m. on September 7 last that a man was being detained by staff at Tesco in Ballinrobe.

Nagy, a Romanian national, had attempted to leave the store without paying for three bottles of vodka and groceries valued at €111.40.

Through CCTV, gardaí also identified Nagy stealing two bottles of vodka worth €50 from SuperValu in Ballinrobe on the previous day. The stolen Tesco items were recovered but the vodka stolen from SuperValu was not.

Nagy has 37 previous convictions and this latest offence occurred while the defendant was serving an eight-month suspended prison sentence imposed by the Criminal Courts of Justice (CCJ) in Dublin.

The court also heard he has been the subject of 20 previous bench warrants.

“The guards are not impressed that you are coming down to Mayo and stealing over two days,” said Judge Alan Mitchell.

With Nagy remanded on bail to appear before the Criminal Court of Justice on September 22 in relation to the breach of his suspended sentence, gardaí initially sought to make it a condition of his bail that he not return to Mayo.

Speaking through an interpreter, Nagy told the court that he had a train ticket booked to return to Dublin after the court proceedings in Ballina.

Judge Mitchell issued a warning that the defendant should leave Mayo but did not make it a bail condition.

The judge handed down fines totalling €350 for the two theft offences. He said Nagy should make his way to the train station following his court appearance.

“Your welcome has now ended in Co. Mayo,” remarked the judge.

* Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.