A man who broke into multiple cars on the same night was charged with criminal damage for leaving blood stains on their interiors.
Ronan Haverty (36), with an address at An Sailin, Wellpark pleaded guilty to four counts each of interfering with a vehicle and criminal damage, for the blood stains, as well as well six charges of theft, and one each of criminal handling and failure to appear.
He received a total sentence of seven months in prison at Galway District Court, along with three months of a previously suspended sentence which was re-activated by the court.
The court heard that in the early hours of the morning on July 28, 2019 three cars at An Sailin, Wellpark were broken into by Haverty, who left blood stains on the car interiors.
Haverty was captured in dashcam footage taken from a car at the scene.
He was charged with Unauthorised Interference with a Vehicle and Criminal Damage for all three cars.
As well as the blood stains, one car also had its driver side window broken, as well as damage to the ignition.
One of the cars was also robbed by Haverty, who took the owner’s passport, dashcam, a socket set, jacket, and jump leads.
The total value of the stolen goods was €410 according to Gardaí.
Another incident involving a car occurred two days before on July 26, where two people coming out of the cinema at Galway Retail Park at 11pm found their cars doors open, the passenger window smashed, and a man rooting around inside.
Gardaí attended the scene and found CDs from the car in Haverty’s backpack, leading to hime being charged with both theft and criminal damage.
Haverty also pleaded guilty to multiple counts of theft which included wine worth €20 from Londis in Newcastle on October 15, 2018, a 12 pack of beer from Aldi on the Headford road the same day, and toiletries worth €7.50 from Dealz in Eyre Square on February 17, 2019.
He was also charged with being drunk in public to extent that he was a danger to himself or other in Eyre Square that day, as well a handling stolen property for having a Jack & Jones jacket which was reported stolen from the store that day.
The final theft charge related to Woodies in Wellpark on July 26, 2019 where Haverty walked out of the store with a box of tools worth €180.
Gardaí were able to identify him off cctv footage and he was subsequently arrested.
Solicitor for the defence Mr Seán Acton said that his client’s “addictions have gotten the better of him” after being clean for a time.
Judge Mary Fahy said that she is familiar with Mr Haverty, and has tried to help him in the past.
But “he just keeps offending an re-offending,” the judge lamented after the state said that he has 53 previous convictions.
Also before the court that day was an application by the probation services to reactivate a suspended sentence Haverty received in April 2018 after he “failed to engage in any meaningful way” with them.
Judge Fahy ultimately reactivated three of the four months in the suspended sentence.
