Father jailed for offences including stealing €100 from an ISPCC Childline box

A father-of-two who stole €100 from an ISPCC Childline box at a pantomime – as well as a series of thefts along the border from Co. Cavan to Co. Donegal – has been jailed for 14 months.
Jimmy Ward stole the money at the pantomime on December 11 in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal.
A father-of-two who stole €100 from an ISPCC Childline box at a pantomime – as well as a series of thefts along the border from Co. Cavan to Co. Donegal – has been jailed for 14 months.
Jimmy Ward stole the money at the Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood panto on December 11 in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal.
Judge Kevin Kilrane sentenced Jimmy Ward to two years for the series of offences, with 10 months suspended.
He said of the Childline theft: “A meaner crime I can hardly imagine.”
Ward’s mother, Ann, pleaded for special treatment for her son who has brain damage since an accident three years ago.
The judge said he had given Ward many chances on previous occasions, including suspended sentences and other encouragements, but to no avail.
Judge Kilrane said he extended bail on other charges recently in the hope that Ward could spend Christmas with his children but within a week he was offending again and taken back into custody.
The judge dated the penalty from last December 15 to coincide with another five months jail sentence Ward is already serving for offences in Sligo.
He also recommended that Ward be counselled for alcohol and drug addiction in prison.
Ward, of , Armada Cottages, Bundoran, admitted thefts from supermarkets and other properties in Cavan town, Donegal town, Bundoran, and Ballyshannon between May 17and December 15 last year.