Thief who stole Mother’s Day hamper from Dublin shop given jail term

Stephen Clarke (52) was jailed for a total of 10 months at Dublin District Court.

Clarke, a father-of-three of Cabra Road, Cabra, pleaded guilty to burglary, theft and handling stolen property in a series of separate incidents.

The court heard Clarke went to Centra, Rosemount Avenue, Artane, and took a Mothers Day hamper worth €40 on March 8, 2021. He passed all points of payment and the hamper was not recovered.

In another incident, he crept on his hands and knees to get behind the counter at Active Life Pharmacy on Talbot Street on May 22, 2021.

He opened the till and also removed items including candles valued at €80 before fleeing. Some items were retrieved and others were not.

Clarke stole €180 worth of Yankee candles at Tesco in Cabra on July 17, 2021.

On December 6, gardaí saw him carrying a bag with 10 pairs of jeans with the security tags still attached, worth €590, which had been stolen from Guineys on North Earl Street.

Clarke had 57 previous convictions. He had a difficult upbringing and developed an addiction to heroin by the age of 17, his lawyer said.

The accused was already serving another sentence when he appeared in court.

Judge Patricia Cronin made the 10 months concurrent to Clarke’s existing jail term.