Two full kegs stolen from outside Cork pub - one culprit jailed for 10 months

Two full kegs of beer worth €450 were stolen from outside The Welcome Inn pub at Parnell Place in Cork and now one of the culprits has been jailed for ten months.

Sergeant Pat Lyons said the crime was committed on May 24 and it involved four people who were captured on CCTV.

One of them was 50-year-old Paul McCarthy (also known as James Paul McCarthy) of Cork Simon Community who pleaded guilty to his part in the crime.

Sgt Lyons said McCarthy had 196 previous convictions, including two for robbery, 12 for larceny, seven for burglary, 33 for theft and several more also under the Theft Act.

Frank Buttimer, solicitor, said: “He wishes to enter a plea of guilty. He has been in custody on a nine-month sentence, scheduled to be released – with remission – in January. He has a longstanding difficulty with alcohol – a lot of trouble with alcohol.

“He was not the only offender involved in this. He is probably the only one before the courts.” 

Mr Buttimer said that in terms of their legal definition most of the offences committed by McCarthy were minor. Judge Olann Kelleher said they were not minor from the point of view of the owners of property suffering the financial loss.

The judge imposed a sentence of ten months imprisonment.

CCTV showed that four people were present at the time of the thefts on May 24 when two kegs of beer – each valued at €225 – were lifted and taken from the scene outside The Welcome Inn.

The sentence already being served by McCarthy relates to other thefts – including counts of stealing kegs of beer from outside other licensed premises around Cork city.

Judge Kelleher said that in the event of an appeal there would have to be a lodgement of €500 cash and an independent surety of €500.