A serial thief who stole hundreds of euro worth of items from grocery shops across Dublin has had his jail term reduced by four months on appeal.
The District Court Appeals Court heard that Mark Holmes (48) has 142 previous convictions, including 31 for theft.
His defence solicitor said that Holmes had been living a “chaotic lifestyl”e and that the offences were linked to a crack cocaine addiction.
Holmes, with a previous address on Exchequer Street, Dublin, was convicted in the District Court of 14 counts of theft, eight counts of failing to appear in court and one each of using threatening and abusive words or behaviour, possessing stolen property and criminal damage.
He received a jail sentence of 20 months in total, made consecutive to another one-year term from the Circuit Criminal Court. He later lodged an appeal against the severity of his sentence.
A garda sergeant told the District Court Appeals Court that on December 18, 2024, Holmes was arrested for taking an appliance from Dunnes Stores in St Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre and removing the tags.
He said that hundreds of euro worth of razors were also not recovered. He said that this incident resulted in a sentence of ten months.
The sergeant said that on January 17, 2025, Holmes entered the same shop and stole an air fryer worth €119. He was sentenced to another 10 months consecutive to ten months for this offence. All other matters were taken into consideration.
The witness said that on May 15, 2024, gardai responded to a report of a man taking a quantity of meat from Lidl in Ranelagh, passing all points of payment. He said that Holmes attempted to throw the stolen property from a bridge but the items were recovered in condition for sale. He said that handcuffs were used on this occasion.
The sergeant said that on August 2, 2024, alcohol worth €109 was stolen from Tesco on the Upper Rathmines Road.
He said that On October 17, 2024, staff at Tesco Metro reported that €92 worth of food was taken. Again on October 5, €126 worth of goods were taken from the same shop.
The sergeant said that in January 2025 Holmes was arrested for a further seven incidents of theft in Dublin grocery shops.
He said that on February 1, 2025 a witness reported that he left a scooter inside the door at Hickey’s Pharmacy, O’Connell Street and that Holmes took the scooter without permission.
He said that on February 12, 2025 gardai were flagged down by security at Dunnes Stores. He said that several items were damaged and were not in the condition to be resold.
The sergeant said that on July 31, 2025 gardai responded to a public order offence on Trinity Street. He said that a person in a local shop witnessed Holmes intending to steal a pedal cycle. The sergeant said that Holmes verbally threatened the man without use of force.
He said that on April 29, 2025, gardai on mobile patrol noticed a man acting suspiciously. He said that he had a shopping bag which appeared to contain stolen goods. He said that Holmes ran from gardai and property such as cosmetics and toiletries worth €155 was recovered.
Holmes’ defence solicitor told the court that his client was engaging with services and schooling while in custody.
He said that the offences, which are largely shoplifting, were linked to crack cocaine use.
The solicitor said that items such as razor blades can be easily convertible on the street for drugs and that this was the reason these items were taken.
He said that his client started using alcohol and drugs when he was a teen and went down a “bad road”, taking heroin while in prison.
The solicitor said that Holmes was living a “chaotic lifestyle” and had been effectively living in hostels and rough sleeping for this period.
He said that Holmes’ methadone usage has tapered from 140ml to 30ml while in custody and that he is engaging with detoxification.
He asked the court to restructure his client’s sentence to remove the consecutive elements.
Judge Fiona O’Sullivan said that there was an “appalling history” to this case but that she took into account that Holmes pleaded in the District Court and has engaged with services while in prison.
She said that his significant reduction in methadone treatment and his engagement in school was clearly to his credit.
Judge O’Sullivan decided to reduce both ten-month sentences to eight months, but said that they should remain consecutive.