A MAN who pleaded guilty at the last moment to stealing items of food and fuel worth £31 has been jailed for five years.
Judge Harvey Kenny said in Castlebar Circuit Court that the State had been put to "enormous cost" because the defendant had opted for a jury trial and then pleaded guilty. While it was every citizen's right to elect for trial by jury, the case had put 150 jurors to considerable inconvenience, only to have the defendant enter a plea of guilty.
Eddie Conroy, of Knockleigh, Ballina, changed his plea to guilty having elected at the District Court to go forward on charges of stealing coal, potatoes, a bale of briquettes and four bottles of cider from premises in Ballina.
Mr John O'Donnell, defending, said the reason his client did not enter a plea in the District Court was that he felt he would get a better hearing in the Circuit Court because of his past record.
Judge Kenny said there was something seriously wrong with the system when 150 jurors had to be selected, a barrister and a solicitor employed through the free legal aid system, and the Garda put to considerable expense and trouble to prepare a case.
While the amount involved was relatively small, shop keepers had to be protected from people like the defendant. He imposed a five year prison term on Conroy, which he said he would review after two years.