Moronic burglars broke into a woman’s home where one defecated on her sitting room floor.
They then made off with blankets, cushions and curtains – and nicked Edam cheese and beetroot from her fridge.
But gardai caught both men on the steps of the Claddagh church in Galway City a short time later, well wrapped up and tucking into the grub.
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Richard O’Brien, 48, a native of Killarney and of no fixed abode, was sentenced to three and a half years’ jail with the final 18 months suspended at Galway Circuit Criminal Court.
He pleaded guilty to his role in the burglary, at a house in the Claddagh area on August 14 last year.
A bench warrant was issued for the arrest of his accomplice, 44-year-old Martin Ward, of The New Glebe, Tuam, after he failed to appear before the court for sentence this week.
Sergeant Diarmuid Cloonan said he responded to a call around 6.30a.m. and met a distressed woman in her 60s at her home.
She had been woken by the light being switched on, and saw a man in the doorway. She could hear him and another man in the room next door, and they left after about 20 minutes.
Someone had defecated on the sitting room floor and blankets, cushions and a curtain had been taken along with Edam cheese and beetroot from the fridge.
The front door had also been kicked in and was damaged.
The woman said she felt intimidated by their entering her property and the violence used to do so.
The court heard O’Brien had 535 previous convictions and was currently serving an eight-month sentence due to expire on June 29.
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