Five men were jailed yesterday after a court found it was reasonable to infer that they intended to commit an offence in a shop in Co Wicklow last November.
The men received sentences of between four and six months from Judge Donnachadh O'Buachalla at Rathdrum Court, Co Wicklow.
Judge O'Buachalla found the facts proven against the men on charges that a reasonable inference could be drawn that their intention was to commit an offence when they entered the Glendalough Shores shop at Laragh on November 11th.
The men, all with addresses in Dublin, denied the charges and said they had no intention of stealing anything or committing any offence. They had paid for any items they got. They had never been to the shop before and had come down to look for and visit other friends from Romania.
The shop-owner, Mr Peter Porter, said he became suspicious when he saw the five men spread out all over the shop. One of them kept calling him over to the area where wines were displayed, even though he told him he was not working and had only come into the shop for a sandwich.
He had been working on his house, was in overalls and wellington boots and was covered in mud. He became suspicious when this man called him over.
Mr Porter said that when he proceeded to the second level of the shop he noticed two men crouched down beside the door to the office, looking at boxes of cereals. Nothing was stolen, but he believed the two were there to commit an offence of some kind.
Ms Ann Marie O'Neill, one of two shop assistants, said the minute the men entered the premises she was aware of them because when they had come in before they had made her very nervous.
She said that the men were spread all over the place "to confuse us" and when Mr Porter came in "he could see we were distracted". Judge O'Buachalla found the facts proven in the case. He said that the actions and manner of the defendants on the day, as manifest to the three witnesses present, gave him sufficient reason to convict them.
Dinu Miclesceu, from Dublin, the only one of the five with previous convictions, including a suspended 12-month sentence for handling stolen property, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment. The other four defendants were sentenced to four-month terms, either of imprisonment or detention. They are Florin Bita, Vasile Codreanu, Eduard Zlantineanu and Florin Iulian Blateanu.