Man with 183 convictions left a Cork Lidl store with stolen beer cans down his pants

A man who tried to smuggle stolen beer cans out of a Lidl supermarket by shoving them down his pants was thwarted by staff as he tried to make his escape.

Sergeant Linda O’Leary told Mallow District Court that John O’Leary, aged 34, of Arlington Lodge, Church Street, Tralee, Co Kerry, was observed taking beer cans from Lidl in Mallow, Co Cork, on August 4, 2025, at 12.14 in the afternoon. O’Leary shoved the cans valued at €17.46 down his pants and walked out of the store.

He was stopped and challenged by store staff and became abusive, threatening one staff member that he would break their two front teeth.

He left without the beers, and the attempted theft was later confirmed with CCTV footage.

Gardaí arrested O’Leary in Mallow a short time later, where he was found in possession of a bottle of wine valued at €7.32 that had been taken from Herlihy’s Centra shop.

The court heard that O’Leary had 183 previous convictions, including 49 convictions for theft. The court was told that O’Leary had been in custody since August 4 and was on bail for other offences at the time.

Defence solicitor Padraig O’Connell said his client’s record was “appalling” and the “vast number” of convictions he had for Section 4 theft were all alcohol related. 

Sorry

He said that O’Leary was wholly co-operative, was extremely sorry and had pleaded guilty.

Mr O’Connell said his client was “ashamed and embarrassed,” came from a “good background” and had spent “a lot of his life in prison for someone his age”. Mr O’Connell added that “shame never runs out”.

Judge Colm Roberts said that if O’Leary could not resist the urge to steal when he was under the influence of alcohol, then “what does he do about that?”

The judge said that perhaps O’Leary was “so inured” to the legal system that “he knows what to do to minimise his situation,” by pleading guilty and being apologetic.

Judge Roberts said he wanted to try to prevent O’Leary from reoffending and needed to investigate the causes of his behaviour.

He ordered a probation report and remanded O’Leary in custody until October 7 to appear by video link.

• This article is funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme