‘Predatory’ theft sentence upheld

A “predatory” crime by two young women saw them calling to the home of an 83-year-old man and stealing cash while on the pretext of looking for water for a child’s bottle.

Judge David Riordan — dealing with the appeal by one of the women against the severity of a six-month jail sentence for theft, imposed at Cork District Court — said yesterday: “It was predatory in so far as they called to the house of an elderly person and took advantage of that person’s trust and stole money from within his house.

“It is not just opportunistic theft, it is predatory.”