'We go back a long way, boy', bail applicant reminds judge

A man with over 50 shoplifting convictions thanked a judge profusely for granting him bail yesterday and said: “We go back a long way, boy.”

Judge Olann Kelleher laughed at James Ryan’s remark at Cork District Court.

The judge agreed with Ryan, aged 45, of 2 Orrery Terrace, Blarney St, Cork, that he had known him a long time but said he had given him prison sentences too over that time.