Courts / Dublin / Report
'Only home he has ever known': burglar has spent majority of life in prison
Summary
Colm Donnelly, 46, of Pearse House, Dublin 2, pleaded guilty to three burglaries committed over three days in March 2020. The first took place at City Quay, where he accessed a site under renovation and stole valuable tools that were later recovered. On 14 March he stole €50 from the till at The Workshop on Georges Quay, and on 15 March he used a crow bar to threaten a customer and stole €2,500 from Keoghs Coffee Shop on Trinity Street. Donnelly has 164 prior convictions, including aggravated burglary, dishonesty and theft offences. Judge Melanie Greally noted his life had been marred by drug addiction and homelessness, and that he had reduced his methadone intake while in custody. She imposed a sentence of three years and nine months, suspending the final nine months on conditions of pre‑release planning, offence and victim‑focused work, and ordered 12 months of post‑release supervision by the Probation Service.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: 'Only home he has ever known': burglar has spent majority of life in prison. Charges or matters: the burglaries in the south inner city on dates between March 13 and 15, 2020. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- March 13 Incident
- March 14, 2020 Incident
- March 15, 2020 Incident
- 2021-07-02 Publication
Why: She said the motivation for his offending appears to be to obtain money to fund his drug addiction. CNI source report
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: the burglaries in the south inner city on dates between March 13 and 15, 2020 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Judge Greally imposed a three year and nine months sentence, with the final nine months suspended on conditions including that he engage in pre-release planning and undertake offence and victim focused work.
Places mentioned
- Pearse House
- Dublin
- Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
- Dublin
- Trinity Street
Topics
Burglary Drugs Stage Sentence Theft
Related court reports
- Man charged with having 56k child abuse images and videos remanded on bail
- Ex-Dáil hopeful's allegations against former employer 'complete fantasy', WRC told
- Mater must pay €10k to worker who said he was wrongly accused of abusing patient
- 'I think we know I won't be getting bail' - Daniel Kinahan charged with directing criminal organisation
- Letting agent who claimed alleged domestic violence victim abandoned tenancy by fleeing to refuge must pay €14.7k
- 77-year-old with 470 convictions told Luas staff to 'f**k off'
If a fact, identity, locality or legal outcome needs review, email the newsroom with this report's details prefilled.
Email a correction request