Prison term for stealing smart phones

Smartphones belonging to female students and other young women socialising in Cork City were targeted by a Romanian man visiting Ireland at the weekend.

Garda Maurice O’Connor said the young man’s modus operandi was to take a phone from a woman’s purse when she was distracted.

Marius Vlad, 29, had only been released from prison for theft offences committed in Ireland less than six months ago when he turned up in Cork last weekend.

He was arrested and charged with three counts of theft and two counts of handling stolen property.

The thefts were committed at McDonald’s on Daunt Square, the nearby Woodford Bar, and in the queue for a nightclub at Reardens on Washington St.

Garda O’Connor, who investigated the case with Garda David O’Donovan, said young women were targeted by Vlad for these thefts.

He said the defendant was selling the stolen property shortly after stealing it. He was caught with some of the stolen property in his possession.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of theft and two of handling stolen property.

Defence solicitor, Eddie Burke, said Vlad, of no fixed address, had no income in Ireland and also had serious health problems including hepatitis C and HIV. He was also the victim of a motor accident as a result of which one of his legs effectively had to be reconstructed.

Judge Leo Malone imposed a total jail term of eight months in prison.