€10k thief sentenced
A YOUTH who stole jewellery, a shotgun and other items worth more than €10,000 while ransacking a Dublin family home has been jailed for two years.
Romanian national Andonie Vasilica (20), of Russell Downs, Tallaght, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to burglary at Brittas on December 14, 2008 and handling stolen property at his home on February 10, 2009.
Judge Katherine Delahunt said gardai had unearthed a significant amount of stolen property during the search of his home and noted that the shotgun had never been recovered.
Garda John O'Connell told Roisin Lacey, prosecuting, that a family living in Brittas returned home late one night and found that their home, which had been securely locked, had been ransacked.
He said that garda colleagues searching a house in Tallaght some months later found three stacked suitcases and saw the top suitcase was open and half full of jewellery. Vasilica and another man were arrested at the house.
Garda O'Connell said the family later identified 46 items of jewellery and other items with a total value of €11,645. He said this was about half of the items reported stolen.
- Fiona Ferguson
