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Law catches up with Galway parking meter thief years later

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From this week's Galway City Tribune

From this week's Galway City Tribune

Law catches up with Galway parking meter thief years later

From the Galway City Tribune – The long arm of the law stretched back through the years, finally bringing a man to justice this week for stealing almost €3,500 in coins from parking meters in the city six years ago.

42-year-old Ioan Costin, a Romanian national with an address at 20 Brewery Court, Ballinrobe, was taken into custody on July 11 on foot of three separate bench warrants issued for his arrest when he failed to appear before courts in Galway in 2017, and more recently Dublin and Castlebar.

He was facing charges in Galway in 2017 of damaging a parking meter at the Long Walk, belonging to Galway/Aengus Property Management on July 6, 2016, and with stealing €669.90 in coins from the meter on the same date.

He was further charged with stealing €932 in coins from another parking meter at the Docks, the property of Paul Sheridan, c/o Port of Galway, on October 2, 2016, and with damaging that machine on the same occasion.

Costin was brought in custody before Galway District Court on July 18 – a week after the bench warrant was executed – where he pleaded guilty to the above charges and to further charges of damaging four other parking meters at or near the Docks area on various dates between July 4 and 19, 2016.

In all, coins totalling €3,451 were taken from the meters over the four-month period, to which he also pleaded guilty.

In one raid alone, Costin and another man, who was never identified or caught, stole €1,800 in coins from one meter at the Dock Road on July 6, 2016.

He was also found in possession of two screw drivers which he used to force the meters open during one of the July raids.

Both men were captured on CCTV, damaging the meters and stealing the coins, following a Garda investigation into the targeted attacks on parking meters in the Docks area at the time.

Costin made full admissions to Garda Ronan Leonard following his arrest on July 11 last.

He claimed he had a gambling addiction and went straight to Salthill on each occasion with his share of the stolen coins, where he lost them all on slot machines.

Defence barrister, Ernie White explained to Judge Gerard Furlong at the holiday sittings of the court this week that his client was first brought in custody before Galway District Court on July 11 last where he pleaded guilty to the charges and sentence was adjourned to this week’s court.

Sergeant Christy Browne, prosecuting, said Costin had 17 previous convictions, all of which were for thefts and for having implements to commit thefts.  The most recent conviction, he said, was recorded at Castlebar Circuit Court on July 15 last where Costin received a three-month sentence for a theft which he committed in May 2020.  He had also received suspended sentences at a court in Dublin the previous day for similar thefts and for having screwdrivers to commit thefts in 2017.

Noting Costin had made no attempt to repay the money in the intervening years, Judge Furlong sentenced him to five months in prison for damaging the meter at The Long Walk and imposed a concurrent five-month sentence for the theft of the €3,451.  Both sentences were backdated to when the Costin went into custody on July 11.  The judge took the remaining charges into account and granted leave to appeal the sentence.

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