Exclusive: A COUNTY Donegal man who took his children on a ‘cynical’ shoplifting trip to a supermarket in the North has been given a suspended jail sentence.
John Mongan, from Buncrana, was arrested at Asda in Strabane yesterday and spent the night in custody.
A prosecution lawyer told Strabane Magistrates Court that Mongan had gone to Asda yesterday with his children.
He had paid for a pair of white socks and a set of pliers, but had later left the store with more than £332.62 worth of other goods, mainly clothes.
Security staff called the PSNI and Mongan later admitted the thefts.
A defence solicitor said the Buncrana man was being treated for several illnesses requiring him to take 31 tablets every day.
He said that while Mongan was pleading guilty to the offence, his medication had altered his behaviour.
But magistrate Liam McNally dismissed this.
“This was a deliberate and well thought out attempt at theft and had nothing at all to do with the amount of tablets he was taking,” said the judge.
“He was only influenced by greed and the opportunity to get as much as possible during this incident.”
A PSNI officer said Mongan had previous convictions in Donegal for car offences.
Magistrate McNally sentenced Mongan to three months in prison, suspending the sentence for two years.
He warned the Donegal man that he would have to serve the sentence if he appeared before courts in the North again.
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