Two men who broke into the offices of Derry’s traffic wardens in an attempt to get cash have been jailed at the local Crown Court.
Gary Sheerin (36) of Brookdale Park and James Patrick Rush (34) of Creggan Heights both in Derry pleaded guilty to breaking into the offices in Queen Street on June 17 last.
Derry Crown Court heard that an employee was checking the premises of the office and found signs of a forced entry.
The thieves had gained entry to the cash room and attempts had been made to open the safe.
An alarm and a CCTV system were disabled but not before the CCTV captured images of three men two of them the defendants.
Sheerin denied the offences when questioned but accepted that the person on the CCTV looked like him.
Rush denied the offences and said he could not remember where he was that night.
Judge Philip Badington said that Sheerin had 113 previous convictions 29 of them for burglary.
He added that Rush had 132 previous convictions.
The judge said both men had difficult upbringings and Rush had first appeared in court aged 14.
He sentenced Sheerin to two and half years in prison and invoked a four month suspended sentence making a total of two years and ten months.
He sentenced Rush to two years and two months.
- Sat, 21 Dec 2024
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