A 21-year-old man has been given a jail sentence after being found in possession of a number of stolen items.
Andrew Bladek was handed a two-month suspended sentence at Letterkenny District Court.
Bladek was charged with three counts of handling stolen property – a tool box containing an assortment of tools, an Allen key set and a pair of Nike running shoes.
Bladek pleaded to the three charges while another charge, of the unauthorised taking of a vehicle, was withdrawn.
Bladek, with an address at Glenview Park, Ballybofey, spoke only to confirm that he wished for the matter to be dealt with at District Court level.
The charges relate to an incident in July, 2021.
Sgt Jim Collins told the court that a vehicle was taken from outside Letterkenny University Hospital.
Gardaí retrieved the vehicle and a number of items were missing from the rear.
A warrant was obtained and a during a search of Bladek’s home at Glenview Park, Ballybofey the items were recovered.
Other items were missing and were not recovered.
The total value of the stolen property in Bladek’s possession was €150.
Bladek has a total of 14 previous convictions for offences including theft, criminal damage and burglary. Five previous bench warrants were in existence for Bladek.
The accused has been in custody since his arrest on July 26, 2021. The court heard that his parents had not consented to Bladek taking up his bail to reside at their address.
Solicitor for Bladek, Mr Rory O’Brien, said his client had tendered an early plea and ‘an element of credit should be given to a young man for facing up to the charges’.
“There are hopes for the future,” Mr O’Brien said.
“The previous convictions are aggravating, but they occurred when he was in his teens. This is one event with three charges.
“He has been in custody for six weeks and he has effectively served a sentence.”
Judge Sandra Murphy said that she was taking into account that Bladek was a young man, but noted that he was convicted in 2020 of similar charges.
“It concerns me again that in July he got involved in similar matters,” she said.
“He already has 200 hours of community service so he has to face that.”
On one of the charges, Judge Murphy convicted Bladek and sentenced him to two months in prison, suspending the term for 12 months. The other two charges were taken into consideration.