An Armagh man with an “atrocious” criminal record has been given a suspended sentence for stealing a bag of potato wedges worth £2 from a shop.
Glen John Carroll, of Navan Cottages, was sentenced to two months in custody, suspended for a period of one year, for a single charge of theft.
The 38-year-old appeared before Armagh Magistrates’ Court, sitting at Newry Courthouse on Tuesday, via videolink from his solicitor’s office.
The court heard that on December 10 last year, the owner of a supermarket in Armagh reported a theft to police that occurred at approximately 5:15pm.
The defendant had entered the store with another male and lifted a packet of frozen potato wedges, valued at £2.25, before leaving the store without paying.
John McAtamney, defending, noted that the defendant had a number of thefts on his record since October 2020, which were all “low-value foodstuffs”.
He explained that his client, who has a “long standing history” of heroin misuse, is now negative from drugs and his life appeared to have “stabilised”.
He added that Carroll was in a situation where he was moving from one benefit to another, and had gone to the shop. There he paid for a loaf of bread, but not for the wedges.
District Judge Anne Marshall said that the defendant had an “absolutely atrocious” record, with 115 previous convictions, including 12 for theft.
However, she noted the circumstances that had been set out in the probation report.
District Judge Marshall made a compensation order of £2.25 for the wedges and passed a sentence of two months in custody, suspended for one year.
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