Burglar jailed after Luas driver saw him break into apartment

A Luas driver alerted gardaí when she saw a burglar breaking into an empty apartment near Tallaght tram stop, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.

Garda Ciaran Kilcoyne said a tram had been passing by the Carrig Court apartments when the driver saw Darren Canning (35) throwing an object through a ground floor window.

She contacted Luas Control to monitor the apartment on CCTV until gardaí arrived.

Gda Kilcoyne said he arrived at the scene, climbed in through the broken window and caught Canning in the bedroom with a mobile phone, camera and two ziplock bags of jewellery.

Canning, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to trespass with intent to commit theft and to criminal damage of a window at Carrig Court, Fortunestown Way, Tallaght on March 1st, 2015.

He has 67 previous convictions, including 18 burglaries and seven trespass offences.

Gda Kilcoyne told Dara Hayes BL, prosecuting, he had to pepper-spray Canning to arrest him at the apartment, which had been empty at the time. Gda Kilcoyne said the apartment’s tenant made jewellery.

He agreed with Luigi Rea BL, defending, that Canning had entered an early guilty plea and had an addiction problem.

Mr Rea told Judge Martin Nolan his client was a father-of-one and had family support.

Imposing a three-year sentence, the judge said he was taking into consideration the aggravating factor that Canning had resisted arrest.