Man who stole electronics worth €31,000 from Cork store jailed 

The 34-year-old confessed to burglary at the electronics shop in Cork city centre on two separate occasions.

The CEX electronics shop on Grand Parade was burgled on two different nights by the same man who got away with over €30,000 worth of property that was never recovered.

And the same culprit targeted other branches of this store around the country for several other similar crimes.

Now — for the Cork crimes — Ion Barbulescu has been jailed for two and a half years by Judge Helen Boyle at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The judge imposed a total jail term of three and a half years with the last year suspended.

“Aggravating factors in this case include the fact that a significant amount of property was taken. The modus operandi was to target these kind of properties.

“This is a city centre premises. It is very important that the vibrant and diverse trading community can trade in a safe environment and not be targeted in the manner in which you did,” the judge said.

On the mitigating side, Judge Boyle took into consideration the fact that the accused was fully cooperative with the gardaí investigating the case.

He was caught elsewhere in the country and asked during his questioning if he could talk to gardaí in Cork about these offences at the Grand Parade premises.

Mahon Corkery, defending, said that in fairness to the defendant, he had worked productively in Ireland for a long time in the area of horse-training and had been employed at some of the best stud farms in the country. However, he lost his employment during the covid pandemic. His problems spiralled down to the point of homelessness and an addiction to crack cocaine. The burglaries were committed to feed this addiction.

The 34-year-old confessed to burglary at the electronics shop in Cork city centre on two separate occasions, stealing €17,000 worth of phones and other items the first time and €14,000 worth of similar products the second time.

Garda Paul Dromey formally arrested Barbulescu in Cork city on the two charges — one related to January 2022 and the other related to May 2022. Garda Dromey said the accused man committed similar burglaries at CEX stores — twice in Dublin, twice in Ennis, Co Clare, and once in Mayo.

Defence solicitor Eddie Burke indicated at an early stage that the accused was prepared to sign a plea of guilty to both charges.

The first charge stated that on January 12, 2022, at CEX on Grand Parade, Cork, having entered the building as a trespasser he committed the theft of mobile phones, tablets, smart watches, and other electronic items to the value of €17,000.

The second count was similarly brought under the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 and related to a similar offence on May 8 where the same range of devices to the value of €14,000 was stolen.