A Tralee man who stole cash and cheques from a soup kitchen has received a prison sentence.
Trevor O'Callaghan of 1 Basin Court, Tralee faced a single charge of theft from Tralee Soup Kitchen, Ashe Street on the 12th December, 2020. He pleaded guilty in the local district court.
Sergeant Miriam Mulhall-Nolan told the court that staff in the soup kitchen had received donations of €870 in cash and €350 in cheques. The donations were in a money bag in an office closed to members of the public and were due to be lodged.
Trevor O'Callaghan was later identified on CCTV sneaking into the office and taking the donations.
Neither the cash nor cheques were recovered.
The accused has previous convictions for theft and is currently serving a sentence for burglary and criminal damage, which is due to end early next year. Judge Waters, after asking for details of previous sentences, noted that Mr O'Callaghan is in prison for an offence committed two days after this offence in December of last year.
In mitigation, solicitor Padraig O'Connell said his client has a serious gambling addiction, no one was injured during this offence and the stolen cheques weren't cashed.
Judge Waters noted the plea of guilty and said he won't increase the sentence being served.
He imposed a seven-month sentence, to run concurrently.
