Suspended sentence for repeat offender

A drug addict whose 26 year crime spree took him all over the country has received a suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for two additional offences.

Raymond O’Hara (aged 41) of Saint Mary’s Mansions, Dublin 1, a father of five, had a total of 159 previous convictions dating back to 1983, including 56 burglary and 48 theft offences.

He pleaded guilty to burglary of Delahunty’s pub on Dame Street on September 22, 2006, where he stole €450 from the till and a glass jar full of tips.

He also admitted to theft in Brady’s Pub in Terenue on May 21, 2007, while on bail for the previous offence. O’Hara had forced open a cigarette machine and stole its contents at a loss of €2,074 to the owner.

Judge Delahunt said O’Hara was a "chronic offender with a serious drug addiction." She imposed an 18-month sentence, suspended in full for three years. She also ordered him to engage in drug treatment with the probation service for 18 months.

Mr Derek Cooney BL, defending, said it was very difficult to say anything when you have a man with 159 previous convictions. He said that O’Hara’s 26 year crime spree, which had taken him all over the country committing burglaries and theft, was carried out in order to feed his drug habit.

He said that at the time of the first burglary O’Hara had been given two years to live, having contracted a serious medical condition related to his severe drug addiction. He has since come off drugs and gained weight which has changed his prognosis from bleak to brighter.

O’Hara had €1,800 in court to demonstrate the sincerity of his remorse for his crimes. Mr Cooney said his client would never have considered bringing money before the court previously because it would have been spent on drugs.

His children range in age from five to 20-years-old. He had been drug free for ten months and was working on a community employment programme with FÁS.

Garda Liam Donoghue told Ms Gerardine Small BL, prosecuting, that fingerprints, CCTV footage and confidential information led to O’Hara’s arrest for the burglary in Delahunty’s Pub.

He agreed with Mr Cooney that O’Hara had a very serious drug problem and that a lot of his offences were similar in nature.