burglary spree | 

Dubliner who tried to film jury on phone found guilty of breaking into Wexford homes

© Wexford People

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Two Wexford town residents described their close encounters with a burglar during a trial at the Circuit Court.

Accused Trevor Mooney denied entering houses in the Park and Newtown Road neighbourhoods in the early hours of April 6 in 2022. However, the jury in the case had no doubts about the guilt of the 52-year-old Dubliner.

The defendant – address given as Buttercup Park, Darndale, Dublin 17 – was brought to court by prison officers. He was serving a three month stretch for contempt imposed after he attempted to video the selection of a previous jury.

His antics with his mobile phone led to the collapse of the trial late last year, before any evidence could be given. There was no escaping justice the second time around as a jury of eight men and four women was sworn in without mishap.

Mooney became re-acquainted in court with the occupants of the two houses he intruded into on the morning in question. He first called to the semi-detached Stony Park home of JJ Murphy who was asleep in his bedroom. Murphy testified that he was woken around 3 a.m. by a light shining on his beside table.

He opened his eyes to find a man standing close by with his (the witness’s) trousers in his hand. The householder let out a shout and the uninvited visitor left immediately. There was no sign of any forced entry but the back door of the house was not locked.

When Murphy checked the trousers, he discovered that a wallet and two €20 notes were missing.

Mooney popped up again less than an hour later in the Newtown Road home of Vivienne Leacy. She was sworn in to tell the trial how she was in her kitchen when she heard a noise coming from the living room. She thought her cat, Ben, must be the cause of the noise. Instead it turned out to be a man with silvery blond hair and a Dublin accent.

He said he was looking for a house party and then let himself out through the front door. It appeared that he must have gained access to the living room by climbing in through a window left open for Ben. He was intercepted shortly afterwards in John Street by Garda Laura Tobin who saw him testing doors of houses to check if they were locked.

Evidence linking Mooney with the crime in Stony Park was offered by JJ Murphy’s next door neighbour May Kelly. She provided footage from a camera fitted to her doorbell which showed a man testing the handle on her front door on that night in April of 2022. The clothes of the man matched those worn by Mooney.

The burglaries were investigated by Garda Sergeant Geoff Scally, since transferred from Wexford to Portlaoise. The sergeant interviewed the accused shortly after his arrest, asking him why he was in Wexford. No clear answer was provided beyond an assertion that the reason was “confidential”.

Defending barrister Brian Mulvany queried the validity of identification evidence but to no avail. The jury was not swayed, bringing in unanimous guilty verdicts after an hour’s deliberation.

Judge James McCourt remanded Mooney in custody for sentencing on February 1.