Polish man sleeping rough in unoccupied house in Sallins estate

A man sleeping rough in an empty house in Sallins was jailed for six months for theft offences on three separate dates last year.

Polish national Grzegorz Derkowski (42) pleaded guilty to stealing two bottles of perfume from Boots in Naas and a bottle of sherry from Tesco in Naas in September.

Naas District Court heard today that CCTV from the Boots store showed Derkowski removing the security tags from the bottles of perfume and concealing the products inside his jacket before walking out.

The defendant had previous convictions for theft, trespass, public order and burglary.

Defence solicitor Stephen Walsh said that his client was in Ireland for several years but had become separated from his wife in recent times.

He said he was a chronic alcoholic and was currently sleeping rough in an unoccupied house in an estate in Sallins.

He was currently on the local authority's housing list.

Judge Desmond Zaidan said that the costs of extra security due to shoplifting was being passed onto consumers in the pricing of products.

He said he had sympathy for the defendant's homeless situation and addiction to alcohol but added that he couldn't let that get in the way of his duty to the public.

He imposed a six-month sentence for the offences and directed that the Probation and Welfare Service liaise with prison authorities prior to the defendant's release to assist with addiction treatment.