A man who burgled an elderly woman’s home in Tralee in August has had the remaining two and half years of his sentence suspended.
Judge Ronan Munro told 41-year-old Jamie Norman, with an address in Tralee, that he is taking a chance on him.
Tralee Circuit Court heard Mr Norman stole what he could find from the house and nearby cars, which included a power bank and a pair of sunglasses.
Just after midnight on 27th August, the occupants of a house in Tralee, a woman in her 70s and her 25-year-old grandson, woke up hearing the sounds of someone else in the house.
Mr Norman did not come into contact with the occupants, but he was then seen entering a vehicle outside and taking items including mobile phones, a power bank, and sunglasses.
The items were recovered when he was arrested, but he was deemed unfit to be questioned at the time because of the substances he had consumed.
Judge Ronan Munro told Tralee Circuit Court the occupants of the house awoke to their property being ransacked, and he did not need a victim impact statement to know what it’s like to wake up in the middle of the night with someone in your house.
Judge Munro said Mr Norman’s past makes for depressing reading, as he has “a list as long as your arm” of previous crimes, and he has been in and out of Cork Prison.
He said Mr Norman is in his early 40s and all he has to look back on is a life of crime.
Defending barrister Katie O’Connell, instructed by solicitor Eimear Griffin, said Mr Norman has been in custody since late August and has been doing extremely well in custody – he is now working within the prison.
Over video link, Mr Norman told the judge he was on a methadone programme, but has now been off methadone since November.
Judge Munro also said that Mr Norman pleaded guilty at the earliest stage was a significant mitigating factor.
Judge Munro said what will keep the people of Kerry safe is for Mr Norman to be off drugs, and being off methadone is a considerable feat.
He sentenced him to three years in prison, but backdated this to last August and suspended the remainder of the sentence, meaning he will serve the rest out of prison.
To stay out of prison, Mr Norman must stay sober, and keep out of the estate where he carried out the burglary.
