News
Shoplifter held scissors to store manager’s chest
A shoplifter who held a scissors to a store manager’s chest in a threatening manner, will avoid a five-month jail term if he is deemed suitable to carry out community service instead.
Adrian Comiza (22), 52 Fearan Rí, Doughiska, had denied a charge of producing the scissors, which was sharply pointed, to intimidate and threaten staff at Aldi, Westside on April 14 last, when he appeared before Galway District Court.
He did plead guilty to stealing food items worth €7.06 on the same occasion.
With the help of a Romanian interpreter, Comiza also pleaded guilty to stealing €101 worth of clothing which he and and his future brother-in- law, Remi Macula, had packed into a suitcase they had taken off a shelf before walking out of Penney’s at Galway Shopping Centre on March 29 last – two weeks before the Aldi shoplifting offence.
Macula was sentenced to four months in prison for that offence last July at Galway District Court and lodged €700 cash in court at the time to appeal the severity of the sentence to the Circuit Court at a future date.
Comiza further pleaded guilty this week to driving without insurance, tax or a driving licence near his home on February 14 last.
The manger at Aldi, Westside, and a security guard gave evidence in relation to the contested charge that they noticed a group of people acting suspiciously in the store and they watched them on security cameras.
Comiza was seen placing food items into a small pouch or “man bag” which was tied around his waist, before they all left the store.
Both staff members followed him outside and asked him to return to the store, but they then noticed he was waving a scissors at them.
Store manager, Stephen Shannon, gave evidence that while he was asking Comiza to come back into the store, Comiza held a pair of scissors up to his chest. “He was just two feet away from me,” Mr Shannon said.
The store’s security guard, Paul Sylvester, said he advised Mr Shannon to step back from the accused.
Mr Shannon said the people who were with Comiza, (which the court later heard included his partner, Violeta Macula, and an older couple), surrounded them and started to push them so that Comiza could get away.
Comiza jumped over a railing and ran while both men shouted at him to stop.
A student, who happened to be walking by, tried to apprehend him but Comiza punched him in the face.
Both store staff caught up with Comiza, restrained him and brought him back to the store’s office.
Defence solicitor, Michael Cunningham said his client had no money to buy food that day for his partner. He said Comiza had instructed him that he waved a shiny pencil at the men and never took the scissors from his bag.
Garda Fitzmaurice, who was called to Aldi that day, said Comiza admitted that he had produced the scissors to intimidate staff so that he could get away.
Judge Mary Fahy observed that Comiza’s partner, Violeta Macula – who was present in court – had a lot of previous convictions for shoplifting offences. “I’m concerned about the company he is keeping,” the judge said.
Hearing Comiza had no previous convictions at the time of these offence, Judge Fahy convicted him of the contested charge.
She remanded him on continuing bail to January 30 for a Community Service Report and said that if he was deemed suitable by the probation service he was to carry out 150 hours’ community service in lieu of a five-month prison sentence for that offence.
The judge convicted and fined him €500 and disqualified him from driving for two years for driving without insurance. She imposed a €200 for not having a driving licence.
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
