Suspended jail sentence and pharmacy barring order imposed on Mayo resident

A Ballinrobe man whose offending has been linked back to two bereavements in his life has received a suspended prison sentence at Castlebar District Court after pleading guilty to stealing €200 worth of gift sets from a Westport pharmacy.

Richard Egan of Lough Mask Road, Ballinrobe, appeared before Judge Ciarán Liddy charged with Section 4 theft at O'Donnell's Pharmacy, Westport, and a public order offence in Westport.

Court presenter Sergeant Fiona Farrell told the court that at approximately 5.45 p.m. on March 28, 2026, Egan entered O'Donnell's Pharmacy and took gift sets valued at €200. No property was recovered.

On April 8, 2026, gardaí responding to a dispute at North Mall, Westport, found Egan at the scene with his trousers around his ankles, shouting at the top of his voice. He was subsequently arrested.

Solicitor Gary Mulchrone told the court his client had a significant number of previous convictions.

He said a large proportion of the record was very old, with a concentrated period of offending from 2001 to 2003 that had ceased until 2022.

Mr. Mulchrone said both spates of offending were linked to bereavements.

Egan's father had died when he was 18 or 19, leading him into difficulty with alcohol. His mother's death in 2022 had caused him to relapse, and he had not been able to access the help he needed since.

Mr. Mulchrone said his client had a chronic addiction problem and had been homeless in recent months.

He said a period in Mayo County Council emergency accommodation had not been a conducive environment for recovery, but that Egan had since moved in with his partner and was in a more stable situation.

Mr. Mulchrone said his client was honest about the seriousness of his alcohol problem, had entered an early guilty plea, and asked the court to consider a probation referral.

Judge Liddy noted that Egan's circumstances had improved and declined to seek a probation report.

He imposed a six-month prison sentence for the theft, suspended for one year, with a condition that Egan stay out of O'Donnell's Pharmacy.