Aran Island parochial house robbed by Dublin-based drug user

A heroin user from Dublin used his free travel pass to make his way to Inis Mór here he robbed the parochial house while the priest was saying Sunday Mass.

Noel Murray, (41), from Moatview Drive, Priorswood, Dublin 17, pleaded guilty before Galway District Court to stealing €900 from the parochial house in Kilronan on Sunday, June 2nd, 2013.

When asked by Judge Mary Fahy where the money had gone, Murray pointed to the crook of his left arm and said, "I put it in me veins judge, in me veins."

Garda Sgt Fergus Gaughan gave evidence that the accused, whom he described as a "travelling criminal", became a strong suspect when it was discovered the rear window of the parochial house was broken and between €900 and €1,000 taken from a safe, while the priest was saying Mass that Sunday. Murray, he said, had arrived on the island two days beforehand and was staying in a campsite. He asked in a local shop what time was Sunday Mass and the burglary was committed during that time.

“He left the island post haste after the burglary and used his travel pass to get a discounted ticket on an Aer Arann flight. He has free travel on all buses and trains and he could be described as a travelling criminal,” Sgt Gaughan said.

“Isn’t it a great country altogether; he has free travel and the rest of us have to pay for it,” Judge Fahy observed.

Sgt Gaughan said Murray had 97 previous convictions, including 48 for burglaries. The first conviction dated back to 1984 and the most recent was committed on November 19th last, when he received a seven-month sentence in Dublin for another burglary.

Defence solicitor, John Martin said his client had a drug addiction but was currently detoxing from heroin and was on a methadone treatment programme.

The judge said Murray had played a “low-down trick” on the people of Inishmaan by asking in the shop what time Mass was so he knew the house would be empty at that time. She said the crime took ingenuity and no doubt, Murray would do the same again.

The judge said she would structure the sentence so that Murray would not be visiting the Aran Islands again for a while. “They have enough visitors and don’t need the likes of him,” she said. She sentenced Murray to eleven months in prison, consecutive to the sentence he is currently serving, but she suspended the final four months for two years on condition he be of good behaviour during that time, stay away from Kilronan and Inis Mór, and stay away from Galway city and county also.

Leave to appeal the sentence was granted.