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Dublin man (54) used stolen debit card to buy alcohol at off-licence

Paul Black (54) was in “difficult financial circumstances” when he used the card three times to buy drink

Today at 07:20

A man used a stolen debit card to buy alcohol from an off-licence after someone else took it from a car and it “made its way” to him, a court heard.

Paul Black (54) was in “difficult financial circumstances” when he used the card three times to buy drink without the owner’s consent.

Judge Bryan Smyth told him to pay compensation in full and adjourned the case at Dublin District Court.

Black, with an address at Liberty House, James Joyce Street, Dublin pleaded guilty to three counts of theft.

Garda Sarah Fay told the court she received a report that a woman’s debit card had been stolen from a car at Foley Street in the north inner city on April 15 last year.

The card was then used for three separate unauthorised transactions at the same off-licence in the city centre, at a total cost of €42, she said.

Gda Fay watched CCTV footage and Black, who was identified, came to a garda station by appointment and was arrested and charged.

Black had been using a wheelchair for 15 years and suffered from “a variety of complicated medical issues,” defence solicitor Conor Ruane said.

He was not involved in taking the card from the car, but it “made its way to him and he used it for alcohol,” Mr Ruane said.

The accused was in difficult financial circumstances, the solicitor said, asking the judge for leniency and time to get the compensation.

Judge Smyth remanded the accused on continuing bail to appear in court again later this month. He said he would finalise the case when the money was repaid in full.