Cork man with 'shocking record' spending 40th birthday in jail

A man is spending his 40th birthday in prison because he was so desperate for alcohol that he walked into a supermarket twice and drank a bottle of vodka off the shelf without paying.

His previous record of offending was described by the sentencing judge as shocking.

Sergeant John Kelleher said Roy O’Callaghan, of Bridgefield Close, Curraheen, Cork, has 262 previous convictions, 92 of them for being drunk and a danger, and 70 for theft.

Sgt Kelleher said that on September 27, Roy O’Callaghan went to Tesco in Wilton Shopping Centre and took a €13 bottle of Huzzar vodka off the shelf and drank it without payment.

He carried out an identical offence at the same store on December 8.

At Cork District Court, he pleaded guilty to both thefts. Judge Mary Dorgan imposed a sentence of six months, with the last three months suspended. The judge also put O’Callaghan on a 12-month probation bond.

Frank Buttimer, solicitor, said the defendant’s problem is alcohol and he had been off it but had regressed. He suggested that the thefts were at the lower end.

Judge Dorgan said: “It is at the lower end, but it warrants a sentence; it is a shocking record.” Mr Buttimer said that the accused, who has been in prison many times, would be starting a custodial sentence on his 40th birthday.