'People being threatened to commit violence against others' to clear debts, says Cork judge

Offenders who are indebted to criminals are being forced to commit criminal acts in order the pay off their debts, according to a district court judge.

Judge Colm Roberts presiding in Mallow District Court made the comments when dealing with the sentencing of a man with 156 previous convictions who was sentenced for a further 12 offences.

Court presenter Sergeant Linda O’Leary told Mallow District Court that Con Foley, aged 44 of Cork Simon Community was charged with 10 thefts, one count of possession of €40 worth of cocaine, one count of threatening and abusive behaviour and one count of intoxication in a public place.

The offences occurred on a variety of dates in July and August 2025 and included thefts from Aldi and SuperValu supermarkets as well as the theft of a €600 power washer from Dairygold Co-op Superstores. The court was told that Foley had 22 previous convictions for theft and one for robbery and his first recorded conviction was in 1996.

Defence solicitor Cathal Lombard said that his client was pleading guilty to all of the charges except one alleged theft from Texaco in Fermoy. He said Foley's life was “blighted by addiction” and he had incurred debts and had been placed under “a lot of threats and duress”.

Mr Lombard said Foley was “at the bottom of ladder” and the stealing was in part an effort to clear the debt he owed. He added that Foley’s partner had repaid some of the shops that were at a loss and she had been forced to move because of ongoing threats.

Judge Roberts said: “It is terrible that this is going on at the moment. People are being threatened to commit violence against others and it is going on all over the city and county.” 

He added that the difficulty he had was that Foley was trapped in a cycle of offending which led him to offend as soon as he was released because of the duress he was under.

The judge said he wanted to give Foley “some light at the end of the tunnel” but also had to mark the seriousness of the constant offending that was having a real impact on retailers. He added: “This is putting businesses out of business.”

For the nine thefts he was convicted and sentenced to three months in prison on two counts, four months on three counts, five months on two counts, six months on one count and 10 months on one count with four months suspended for two years. He was also placed under the supervision of the Probation Service for two years. 

For possession of cocaine he was sentenced to three months suspended for four years. For threatening and abusive behaviour he was sentenced to three months suspended for two years and the public intoxication charge was taken into consideration.