Mayo man burgled Ballinrobe businesses after he was placed in local 'halfway house'

A MAN who was placed in a 'halfway house' in Ballinrobe pleaded guilty to burgling two businesses in the town on the same night.

John Joe Hopkins (42) with an address at Railway Hotel, Cornmarket, Ballinrobe appeared before Castlebar District Court where he pleaded guilty to the burglary of the Emo Filling Station on Bowgate Street, Ballinrobe and Cummins Super Valu in Ballinrobe as well as criminal damage to the two businesses.

Garda Sharon Murray told Judge Vincent Deane that on April 12 last she was on patrol when the alarm went off in the Emo filling station. When she went to the scene she arrested the defendant who was in the course of a burglary.

The court heard that Mr Hopkins was also arrested in connection with the burglary of Cummins Super Valu which occurred on April 11.

Garda Murray explained that Mr Hopkins damaged windows in both premises during the course of the burglaries. He caused €771.80 worth of damage at the Emo Filling Station and €600 worth of damage at Emo.

The court heard that Mr Hopkins has 50 previous convictions including a 'long list' of burglaries and has been in custody on remand since his arrest last April.

Ms Cathy McDarby said her client, who is now a grandfather, has been in difficulty for the last 20 years and has difficulties with alcohol and drugs.

She explained he was placed in a halfway house in Ballinrobe where there was a lot of drinking and although he tried to resist he gave into the temptation. She said Mr Hopkins was also taking medication and the mix of the two was not a good combination.

She said that once the crime was reported gardaí knew who was responsible and Mr Hopkins did not try to hide what he did.

Ms McDarby added that her client suffers from ill health and wishes to apologise to the people he burgled and asked Judge Deane to provide some light at the end of the tunnel for him.

Judge Deane described Mr Hopkin's record of previous convictions as abysmal and sentenced him to a total of 16 months for the two burglaries. The sentence was backdated to April 13 last, the date he was placed in custody.