Teenager handed four-month jail sentence for stealing a handbag from Cookstown cinema
A teenager who made off in the direction Cookstown main street after stealing a handbag from the local cinema, was handed a four-month jail sentence at Dungannon Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Nineteen-year-old Willy McDonagh, whose address was given as Molesworth Street in Cookstown, pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary involving the theft of a handbag and its contents from the Ritz Cinema on December 7 last year.
The court heard that police received a report from the manager of the cinema that a young male with red hair had entered by a side door of the premises and gone into the staff room and stolen a handbag belonging to a member of staff.
Prosecuting counsel said CCTV footage of the defendant wearing a puffa jacket making off in the direction of the main street was posted on the cinema’s social media and McDonagh was identified and apprehended.
The lawyer said McDonagh was cautioned by police and said he was sorry and “I shouldn’t have done this”.
A defence lawyer pointed out that the defendant is a sentenced prisoner with November his earliest release.
He said the handbag and its contents were of “virtually no use to the defendant”, but were obviously of significant value to the injured party who was the unfortunate victim.
Passing sentence, District Judge Francis Rafferty said he would impose a four-month custodial sentence that would be concurrent with his current sentence.
Mr Rafferty refused an application by the Public Prosecution Service for a restitution order in respect of the handbag.