Laois man faced 27 charges of theft, majority related to alcohol
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A Laois man appeared before Carlow District Court to face a total of 27 charges, the majority of which related to the theft of alcohol from shops across the Carlow area.
Sean Nelson (33), Sleaty Street, Graiguecullen appeared before Judge Geraldine Carthy via videolink from Clover Hill Prison and entered a guilty plea to all matters before the court, while also electing to have the matters dealt with at district court level.
Prosecuting sergeant Gráinne McPartlin outlined the charges to the court, which spanned a period from July 2025 to April of this year. The first incident occurred on 31 July 2025 at Aldi on Hanover Road, where Mr Nelson was alleged to have stolen vodka and ice cream to the value of €20.
A series of further thefts followed. On 3 August 2025, Mr Nelson took a bottle of vodka valued at €22.49 from Aldi in Graiguecullen and on 20 August he took six cans of beer worth €15 from a premises in Carlow town.
He returned to the same location on 9 September, taking a further eight cans of beer worth €20, and a day later on 10 September he took eight cans of beer worth €18.
In total, 25 of the 27 charges before the court were for theft contrary to section 4 of the .
There was also a charge before the court for a public order offence contrary to section 4 of the from 19 December 2025, when gardaí responded to a report of an intoxicated man lying on the ground outside Centra at Potato Market in Carlow town.
Mr Nelson also faced a charge of criminal damage after smashing a window at an apartment at Ferrybank. When he was arrested, he told gardaí that he had entered the property to sleep as he had nowhere else to go.
The damage to the window was valued at €500, while the total amount of property that was stolen across the 25 theft charges was €462.94.
The court heard that Mr Nelson has 27 previous convictions, eight of which are related to theft and five of which are related to section 4 public order offences.
The most recent conviction was from 11 March 2024 for a section 2 criminal damage offence, for which he received a two-week prison sentence.
Defence solicitor Joe Farrell told the court that the list of charges against his client made for “very poor reading”, acknowledging that the court had given Mr Nelson plenty of opportunities in the past. Mr Farrell added that, with the exception of the criminal damage and public order charges, the remainder all involved the theft of alcohol.
In relation to the charge of breaking into the apartment at Ferrybank and causing damage to the window, Mr Farrell said that Mr Nelson knew the building was unoccupied, as the previous resident had just received a prison sentence.
Mr Farrell said there was “a trail of destruction” as a result of Mr Nelson’s addiction and that he made a number of attempts to try to receive treatment for it.
“He has asked me to apologise to the court and acknowledge the fact he has received favourable outcomes at this court before,” Mr Farrell told Judge Carthy.
When addressed by Judge Carthy, Mr Nelson asked her to sentence him that day and, if possible, could he be sent to Clover Hill, explaining that he was trying to stay off drugs, which he was afraid he would not be able to do if he ended up in the Midlands Prison.
Judge Carthy adjourned the matter until 20 May, when Mr Nelson will appear before the court again via videolink for sentencing.
