A man who stole property belonging to a woman just moments after she was fatally injured after being struck by a bus on Dublin's O'Connell Street has been jailed for ten months.
Jonathan Brophy, 24, originally from Hardwicke Street in Dublin, pleaded guilty to stealing two bags belonging to 60-year-old Marie Buckland.
His sentence was backdated to 1 October last when he went into custody.
A number of Mrs Buckland's personal items, including a diary, have still not been located.
Cloverhill District Court heard today that Brophy was one of many people who came upon the scene of the tragedy on 15 September last.
As other people tried to comfort Mrs Buckland, Brophy stole the two bags from the roadside.
Sergeant Brian Cullen told the court that among the items Brophy stole were Mrs Buckland's passport, a Nokia mobile phone, a sum of cash and keys to her Vauxhall sports car.
Brophy was later tracked down by gardaí after a member of staff at the Ilac Centre reported suspicious activity in the car park.
An examination of CCTV footage showed a person later identified as Brophy trying to find the car that would match the keys he had stolen from Mrs Buckland.
Detectives believed they recognised the person on the footage as Brophy, who was known to them, and a search began.
Within days he was tracked down to a shed in Bray, Co Wicklow, where he was living. When he was arrested, gardaí recovered Mrs Buckland's passport, car keys and mobile phone.
Brophy's solicitor told the court that his client had been spending €20 a day on heroin at the time of the offence, and had been living in ‘squalid conditions’ in a shed.
Anyone with information about Mrs Buckland's other belongings are urged to contact the gardaí at Store Street in confidence on 01-6668000 or any garda station.
