Man with over 250 convictions jailed for theft and breaking into a couple's home as they slept
Sonya McLean
A man with over 250 previous convictions who has spent a lifetime offending has been jailed for theft and breaking into a couple’s home as they slept.
Judge Orla Crowe noted that Thomas Grace's (43) convictions date back almost 25 years and include offences for burglary, robbery, drugs, possession of knives, multiple thefts, assaults and failure to appear in court.
She acknowledged that Grace is at the “mercy of his drug addiction”, referring to the fact that Grace became addicted to heroin at 18 years of age, but she added that there are many people who are the direct victims of his offending.
On Wednesday, Judge Crowe imposed concurrent terms of 18 months and three years and nine months for the theft and burglary.
The final nine months of the second term were suspended on strict conditions including that Grace engage with the Probation Service upon his release from prison.
Judge Crowe said that the home burglary was “an inordinate violation” of the couple’s home after she noted that Grace had stolen a phone from a bedside locker in the couple’s bedroom as they slept.
She accepted that he has since shown remorse for his behaviour and further accepted that he was in the middle of a relapse into drug addiction at the time.
Grace of Mount Olive Road, Kilbarrack, Dublin 5, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to theft from Honey Honey Café, Portmarnock on August 28th 2025.
He also pleaded guilty to the burglary of a family home in the early hours of September 3rd 2025.
Garda Kevin Hynes told John Quirke BL, prosecuting, that at the time of his arrest in September 2025, Grace was on bail for 16 separate offences.
He said that a staff member in the café had left her handbag in the staff toilets that day and saw an unknown man coming out of the bathroom. She later noticed that €200 was missing from her wallet.
Her manager viewed the CCTV footage, and Grace was seen coming out of the bathroom. He was later nominated as a suspect by gardaí.
Gda Hynes said the couple woke up at 5.45 am to find that their home had been broken into and ransacked. The homeowner had left a window open overnight as it was a particularly warm night.
Grace stole a phone from the couple’s bedside locker as they slept. He also took an Apple watch and two suitcases, which contained documents and African heritage clothing.
Gda Hynes said all items were recovered and returned to the owners. The couple did not prepare a victim impact statement.
Emmet Nolan BL, defending, said his client left school at 13, and while he worked in various jobs including a labourer and an apprentice butcher and mechanic, he was also a talented footballer as a teenager.
He said Grace struggled with being away from home after he secured a football deal. He returned home and ultimately began hanging around and he fell into addiction and criminality. He first took heroin at 18 years old.
“He has been blighted by this ever since,” Nolan said, before he added that Grace consistently offended in an attempt to feed his addiction.
