News
Convicted killer jailed for bank card scam in city carpark
A convicted murderer asked a unsuspecting shopper for directions before stealing her bank card.
Ion Nedelcu (51), Prussia Street, Dublin 7, appeared in custody before Galway District Court.
He pleaded guilty to the theft of a woman’s debit card at the Aldi car park, Galway Retail Park, on January 10 last.
He pleaded guilty also to stealing €161.11 cash from the woman by using her card at Tesco at Galway Shopping Centre on the same date, and to stealing a further €120 from the woman by using her card again at Tesco later that same day.
Inspector Brendan Carroll said the woman reported the theft of her card at Galway Retail Park to Gardai on January 13 last.
It was established the card had been used to make a purchase at Tesco for €161.11 and another purchase for €120.
Two further transactions were carried out at an ATM for €600 and €100, he added.
Judge Mary Fahy asked how did the theft of the card take place.
Insp Carroll explained the accused and another person watched as the woman used her card to pay for items in Aldi and they then distracted her outside in the car park.
One of them asked her for directions and while she was distracted the other person took the card.
“So, he was watching the injured party using her card and saw the PIN she entered and then later distracted her while the card was being taken. He then used it because he knew the PIN,” Judge Fahy said.
Insp Carroll said the bank had reimbursed the money taken from the woman’s account.
Judge Fahy said it was a rather nasty and cynical crime and would put people off giving directions to anyone else in the future.
Defence barrister, Gary McDonald said his client had come to Ireland from Romania looking for work but could not find any. He said he was part of a group of people involved in the crime.
Insp Carroll said a bench warrant has issued for Nedelcu’s arrest on March 16 last year when he failed to show up in court to answer the charge as he had left the country.
The warrant, he said, had been executed when he arrived back in the country and he went into custody on February 12 last.
Nedelcu, the court heard, had serious previous convictions in Romania.
Insp Carroll said he had received a 20-year sentence for homicide there in 1988 and was released on parole in 1996.
He had got five years for aggravated theft in 2002 and seven years in 2005 for dangerous driving causing death.
Judge Fahy said the accused had a “very serious background in criminality”.
“One would have thought that if he came here genuinely looking for work he would have ‘kept his nose clean’ rather than coming to Garda attention” she observed.
She sentenced Nedelcu to nine months in prison for stealing the bank card which she backdated to February 12.
She then imposed a consecutive six-month sentence for the theft of the first round of cash, which she suspended for two years on condition he be of good behaviour.
She imposed a concurrent four-month sentence for the second theft of case, which she suspended on the same basis.
Leave to appeal the sentences was granted along with free legal aid.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
