A man has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for carrying out burglaries and stealing from a deceased man in Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim.
Maksym Sharii, 25, of Aughakilbrack, Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim was before Carrick-on-Shannon Criminal Circuit Court on 20 different charges related to burglary and theft between 1 October and 16 November 2024.
Judge John Alymer said the burglary charges relate to the burglary of the home of the late Peter Robinson, a close neighbour of Maksym Sharii.
Sharii pleaded guilty to three charges of burglary and two charges of theft, which included taking guitars, groceries, alcohol, as well as stealing and using a bank debit card.
The other charges on the indictment were taken into consideration. The total value of property taken from Peter Robinson was €6,126.
When delivering sentence, Judge Alymer said the offences were committed after Mr Robinson died in very unfortunate circumstances.
He said the theft charges occurred from accounts of Mr Robinson after he died and involved the procuring of debit cards from the burglary of his home.
Judge Alymer said the most obvious and aggravating factor is that it was a gross and callous disrespect to the deceased, his family and loved ones.
He said the offences were "very much into the mid-range of offending" having regard to those aggravating features in relation to burglary and theft.
Before considering mitigation, he said the burglary offences merited a four-and-a-half-year sentence and a three-year sentence for theft on each count to run concurrently.
In respect of mitigating circumstances, Judge Alymer said Sharii cooperated with the investigation, although he gave false accounts, which he later changed.
He noted an early plea of guilty while Sharii was in custody and that it was clear he was engaging in rehabilitation.
The court heard a serious gambling addiction was "at the root of this offending".
Judge Alymer noted Sharii has potential as a qualified physiotherapist to contribute to society, acknowledging however, he had a severe problem with dishonesty.
"You persisted with dishonesty in your engagements with the probation service. That limits the assistance of the probation report of the court for a certain extent."
He said the probation report describes Sharii as having an emerging empathy.
Judge Alymer, having regard to mitigating circumstances, sentenced Sharii to three years and four months in prison for the burglary offences and two years and three months for the theft offences to run concurrently.
The judge said that the court accepted Sharii was genuinely remorseful and was anxious to encourage rehabilitation. He suspended the final ten months.
Sharii will serve two years and six months in prison, taking into account time already spent in custody.
