A thief with 133 previous convictions who stole almost €9,000 worth of electrical cable and separately swiped a BBQ from Skerries Sailing Club has had his seven-month jail term replaced with a fully suspended sentence on appeal.
Terry Maughan (47) with an address in Balbriggan, Dublin was convicted in the District Court of theft contrary to section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001 for an incident on October 7, 2023. He was given a sentence of seven months in custody.
He was also given a six-month concurrent sentence for an incident of burglary on May 2, 2024 under section 12 of the same act. A conviction for failing to appear in court was also taken into consideration. Maughan later lodged an appeal against the severity of his effective seven-month jail sentence.
Garda Jake Digney told the District Court Appeals Court today that Maughan was identified on CCTV stealing rolls of electrical cables with a value of €8,982 from an industrial estate in Santry.
He said that Maughan was arrested and made full admissions in the interview, saying that he sold the cables for scrap for €535. He said that Maughan said at the time that he was “deeply sorry” and that he had run out of cash.
Garda Digney said that he also received a report of a burglary that happened on May 2, 2024 at Skerries Sailing Club.
He said that Maughan was identified on CCTV entering a concrete shed at the sailing club and removing a barbecue worth €300. He said that Maughan put the BBQ on the trailer of a vehicle.
Garda Digney said that Maughan was arrested and again made full admissions in the interview, telling officers: “I apologise for my actions”. He said that the BBQ was returned to the club.
Garda Digney said that Maughan has 133 previous convictions, including 15 for theft.
Defence counsel for Maughan, Lydia Daly BL, said that her client was in a “bad place in his life at that period of time” and that Garda Digney had said her client was “massively cooperative”.
She said Maughan was drinking heavily at the time but he is now sober and he hasn’t come to Garda attention since.
Judge Fiona O’Sullivan decided to suspend both sentences of seven and six months in full for a period of 12 months on the condition that Maughan complies with all directions of the probation service.