A thief who was rumbled when he was caught with a mobile phone that he was unable to unlock has had his
jail sentence more than halved on appeal, with a judge asking him: “Try not to let me down.”
The District Court previously heard that messages on the phone referred to a work presentation, despite the defendant saying the device belonged to his unemployed girlfriend.
Judge Simon McAleese told Keith Commins (29) in the District Court Appeals Court today that he hoped he would not be proven “naive and overindulgent” in his decision to suspend part of the appellant’s sentence.
Commins, with an address in Mullingar, Westmeath, was convicted in the District Court of possessing stolen property, contrary to section 18 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001. He received a three-month jail sentence.
He was also convicted of failing to comply with the direction of a garda member and resisting or wilfully obstructing a garda, for which he received three-month and one-month consecutive sentences.
He later lodged an appeal against the severity of his sentence.
A sergeant told the court that on August 28, 2024 gardai on patrol in Ballsbridge in south Dublin saw Commins acting suspiciously at around 2.10am. He said that the appellant was intoxicated and that the gardai found a mobile phone.
Dún Laoghaire District Court previously heard that Cummins could not unlock the black Samsung phone and gave inconsistent explanations. Messages on the phone referred to a work presentation, despite Cummins saying it belonged to his unemployed girlfriend.
The sergeant said that on January 7, 2025, gardai on mobile patrol on Grand Canal Street Upper observed Commins speaking to another man. He said that Commins became abusive to gardai and refused to disengage or leave the area.
Garda Hugo McGowan previously told the District Court that Cummins shouted abuse, including “f*** off” and “fat f***ing pigs”, raised his fists and resisted arrest.
The sergeant told the court that Commins has 63 previous convictions.
Defence counsel, Lydia Daly BL, said that her client is serving a nine-month sentence for another matter, with a release date of June 13.
Ms Daly said that her client had significant addiction issues in the past but is now receiving methadone.
She said that he has secured stable accommodation upon his release and that he would not be going back on the streets.
Ms Daly asked the judge to consider suspending the sentence in order for Commins to link with the probation services. She asked for an opportunity, saying that Commins appears to be in a positive position at the moment.
Judge McAleese said he was delighted to hear that Commins is working in the prison block shop and that he is clearly a man of some talent prior to “going off the rails”.
He noted that Commins had been “through the mill” with drugs and that that in turn has led to a terrible amount of misery visited by him on other people.
The judge said that Commins was no stranger to a day’s work and that he admired that.
He decided to suspend the three and one month consecutive sentences for a period of two years. He said that Commins would thus have “very little” additional time to serve.
Judge McAleese told Commins he hoped that he would not be proven “naive and overindulgent”, adding that the appellant had a “clear ability to get himself straightened out”.
He asked Commins: “Try not to let me down.”