Man jailed after admitting to 16 charges from North Cork 'crime spree'

A Cork man who pleaded guilty to multiple charges resulting from what the judge described as a “crime spree” has been jailed and ordered to pay €2,500 in compensation in the district court.

Inspector Tony O’Sullivan told Mallow District Court that Warren Forde, aged 20, of Corrin Drive, Ballyhea, Charleville, Co Cork, faced six charges of theft, seven charges of interfering with a vehicle, one charge of taking a vehicle without permission, one charge of driving without insurance and one charge of driving without a valid licence.

Defence solicitor Cathal Lombard told the court that his client was pleading guilty to all of the charges.

Giving evidence Garda Conor O’Halloran told the court that the offences were carried out on two separate dates on February 5, 2025, and February 20, 2025. On February 5 at Model Village, Dripsey, he interfered with a vehicle and took a vehicle without the owner’s consent. On February 20 the accused stole €1,000 in cash, a wallet with €50, an air compressor worth €700, five Milwaukee battery packs worth €500, and a Milwaukee drill valued at €500.

Also on February 20 he stole €1,900 in cash from a vehicle in Beechwood Grove, Ballyhea, €1,700 of which was in an envelope. At Corrin View on the same day he stole tools worth €600 and later on €10 in coins from a car in Castlelands, Buttevant.

Stopped

He was later stopped at the Inver service station in Charleville where he was found to be driving without a licence or insurance. The court was told that multiple reports of theft were made to gardaí and Mr Forde made certain admissions in relation to them during interview.

The court heard that €1,700 of the €1,900 stolen from Beechwood Grove was recovered as well as the €600 worth of tools from Corrin View. The court heard that the other tools were suspected to have been destroyed in a fire when in another vehicle that crashed into a pole at a location in Buttevant.

The court was told that Mr Forde had 22 previous convictions including five for the unauthorised taking of a vehicle, seven for theft and two for interfering with a vehicle. Mr Lombard said his client had been fully co-operative and had been struggling with addiction issues but was fully engaging with prison services.

Judge Colm Roberts said that the offending was effectively “a crime spree”.

He said that there were six thefts all on the same day ranging from €700 to €10 and added that due to the nature of the offences he would have to take some of them into consideration.

For the most serious theft where €1,000 cash and €700 worth of tools were stolen and not recovered, Mr Forde was sentenced to nine months in prison with three months suspended for two years and he was ordered to pay €1,700 in compensation to the injured party by September 1, 2026.

Tools

For the theft of tools from Corrin View he was sentenced to nine months in prison with three months suspended for two years and he was ordered to pay €600 in compensation to the injured party by September 1, 2026.

For the theft of cash from Beechwood Grove he was ordered to pay €200 in compensation. The other three theft charges were taken into consideration.

For the unlawful taking of a vehicle he was sentenced to 10 months in prison with three months suspended for two years. For driving without insurance he was disqualified for two years and sentenced to three months in prison.

The seven interfering with a vehicle charges were all taken into consideration as was the charge of driving without a licence. Recognisance in the event of an appeal was fixed in his own bond of €1,000 with €300 required in cash.

• This article is funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.