Man jailed for Athlone theft spree while in throes of ‘insatiable’ addiction

A man charged with a string of thefts from various Athlone businesses while he was in the throes of an “insatiable addiction” has been jailed.

Paul O’Connor (49), with addresses at St Brendan’s Terrace, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, and River Village, Tuam Road, Athlone, Co Roscommon, as well as Cúlán Eiscir Riada, Dunlo, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, appeared before Athlone District Court on Wednesday last, where he was sentenced.

In January, he pleaded guilty to a number of theft charges for clothing, groceries, tools and crystal ornaments, amounting to a total value of €522.88.

On September 17, 2025, at JD Sports, Athlone Town Centre, Mr O’Connor stole tracksuit bottoms worth €85.

Another charge related to January 29, 2025, at Dunnes Stores, Irishtown, when he stole groceries worth €246.

Other charges included the theft of two crystal ornaments worth €29.95 from Allen’s on Church Street on December 3, 2025, theft of tools worth €49.96 from Aldi, Golden Island on September 19, 2025, and groceries worth €82 and €29.97 from the same Aldi store on January 9, 2025, and September 29, 2025, respectively.

The solicitor for the accused, Padraig Quinn, informed the court that Mr O’Connor is currently serving a sentence with a release date of August 4, 2026, and asked the court to give him credit for pleading guilty to the charges.

“He takes full responsibility. He informed the probation officer that his behaviour was inappropriate and unacceptable,” he said.

“The offences were committed in the throes of a fairly insatiable drug addiction. He was shoplifting to order for individuals who would pay him and he’d use the money to feed his habit.

“He has issues around accommodation. His parents separated when he was 11. His dad died in 2002 and his mother in 2020. His best friend also died and he discovered him and it triggered a relapse.”

Mr O’Connor, who is currently serving a sentence for similar charges, with a release date in August of this year, is doing a number of courses while in custody and has had discussions with prison staff about getting into residential treatment upon his release.

Judge Bernadette Owens noted the plea to all charges before the court, as well as the fact that Mr O’Connor engaged well with the probation service.

“The type of offence is indicative of the throes of addiction. Individually, these are minor shoplifting offences, but together they add up to a sum of in excess of €500,” she said.

For the theft from JD Sports, she sentenced him to five months in prison, which she backdated to January 28, when he entered a guilty plea, and directed the sentence be served concurrently to the sentence he is currently serving.

The judge added a further five-month prison sentence for the theft of groceries from Dunnes Stores, directing that sentence to be served consecutively. All other charges were taken into consideration.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme