Addict pleads guilty to multiple burglaries

A crack cocaine addict who carried out 16 house burglaries within a year in various city suburbs has been remanded in custody pending sentence by Judge Katherine Delahunt at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Keith Hogan (aged 29) of Balfe Road East, Crumlin, pleaded guilty to nine charges of trespass and theft, seven charges of trespass with intent to commit theft, assault causing Detective Garda Pat Fagan harm and two charges of damaging windows in the properties on dates between May 6, 2005 and April 23, 2006.

Judge Delahunt adjourned the case to next October and ordered an updated governor’s report when she heard that Hogan had been a model prisoner since his remand in custody last April.

Ms Marie Torrens BL, defending told Judge Delahunt that Hogan’s father was shot dead in front of his mother in 2001.

She died of cancer in 2005.She said Hogan had "an extremely difficult background" and had an enormous problem with drugs. Reports before the court indicated he would have to deal with his drug addiction or he would re-offend.

Hogan stole €3,095, Stg£1,020 (€1,493) and US $70 (€52) in addition to assorted jewellery, camcorders, DVDs, PlayStation games, mobile phones, TVs, children’s runners, a tracksuit and t-shirt, antihistamine tablets, two unsigned credit cards and a Christmas Tree in the various raids.

It was accepted that Hogan, who had 38 previous convictions, always broke into unoccupied homes and never confronted residents or used violence on them.

He admitted to all the burglaries and also confessed to some that gardai were not aware of at the time. Hogan was on bail when he committed 15 of the burglaries and the first theft in May 2005 was carried out while he was on temporary release from Wheatfield Prison.

Garda Richard Hampson told Mr Michael Bowman BL, prosecuting, that the Christmas Tree was found in Hogan’s home linking him to one of the burglaries.

Gda Hampson said an empty vodka bottle was also found in his home which linked him to another burglary where the victim had been saving almost €1,500 in coins in the same bottle.

Gardaí were alerted to Hogan in November 2005 by a staff member in a Terenure bank after he tried to exchange the foreign currency. He hid his face while talking to staff and refused to lift his head.

Garda Robert Lambert said that a woman living in Driminagh came home to find Hogan in her kitchen. He claimed that he followed two other intruders into the house and pointed out two men at a bus stop, identifying them as the culprits and saying that they had escaped through the back door.

The woman realised Hogan was lying when she noticed the back door was still locked. She told him she was going to call the Gardaí and he fled the scene.

Gardaí caught him later that day following a second burglary. When they stopped him he replied: "Bleeding hell, you are always pulling me over."

Gda Lambert told Mr Bowman that Hogan was remanded in custody on December 7, 2005 but was granted High Court bail later that month and released and went on to commit a further three burglaries.

Gda Kevin O’Shaughnessy said that Hogan head butted Det Gda Fagan as he was trying to escape custody following his arrest for the final burglary in April 2006.

The strike connected with the bridge of Det Gda Fagan’s nose, causing it to bleed and leaving him with headaches for a number of days.

Gda O’Shaughnessy accepted in cross-examination from Ms Torrens that this violence was out of character for Hogan and that he was "out of his mind on drugs" on that occasion.

He further accepted a "sincere apology" from Hogan through his counsel.