A man who stole the wedding ring and engagement ring of a woman whose car he was cleaning has escaped going to jail.
Claudia Lacatas, aged, 21, stole the rings from the car of Julia Harvey while working at a carwash in Milford.
Lacatas appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with the theft of the rings worth more than €1,100.
The court heard how Mrs Harvey attended the car wash in January 15th last.
That evening she noticed that her rings were missing from a glove compartment she had stored them in.
Her husband Anthony Harvey arrived at the carwash the following day, January 16th and called the Gardai.
The Gardai arrived and Lacatas admitted stealing the rings.
Gardai brought him to his home at Fortwell Court in Letterkenny and the rings were recovered.
Solicitor for Lacatas, Mr Frank Dorrian, said his client had no explanation for why he stole the rings.
However, he said it was a very unwelcome development on behalf of his employer as there was a level of trust in people leaving heir cars in for washing.
He added that it was also a crime against his community because of the publicity which it brought.
Judge Paul Kelly, in hearing that Lacatas had no previous convictions, applied the Probation Act and bound the accused to the peace for 12 months.