Man stole from girlfriend to buy her engagement ring

A YOUNG man went on trial yesterday for stealing money from his girlfriend. He claimed he wanted to use the money to put a deposit on an engagement ring for her.

“That is the most ridiculous thing I have heard in my life,” Grace Brady said at Cork District Court, where her former boyfriend Duncan Harper of Cape Clear Island, Co Cork, was convicted by Judge David Riordan and fined €300.

He admitted using his then girlfriend’s bank card to withdraw €150, but he testified that all he wanted to do was use the money as a deposit for an engagement ring. He was always going to repay her, he said.