‘very cold’ | 

Theft is ‘no way to thank host nation’, judge tells refugee who stole clothes worth €500

He fined the accused €200 at Blanchardstown District Court.

Andrew Phelan

Today at 09:30

​A refugee who shoplifted clothes to keep warm while “very cold” in an accommodation centre has been told by a judge this was “not an appropriate way to thank your host nation”.

Mohammed Khaber (30) had scissors on him to de-tag the goods in a crime that Judge David McHugh said had “a lot of thought put into it”.

He fined the accused €200 at Blanchardstown District Court.

Khaber, from Algeria and with an address at the Citywest Convention Centre, Citywest Hotel, Saggart, pleaded guilty to theft, possession of scissors for use in the course of a theft and possession of a Swiss army knife as a weapon.

Garda Sergeant Maria Callaghan said last January 14, Khaber went to TK Maxx, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and stole €500 worth of items by cutting the tags from them and concealing them in bags he had with him, with goods he had bought in the store.

Gardaí who were in the shop at the time saw him pass all points of payment.

They followed him out.

He became “fidgety and uneasy” when brought to the security room, and when asked if he had any weapons on him he said he did not.

The stolen goods included an item of luggage worth €99 which was damaged and not saleable.

Khaber had been extremely cold in Citywest, was “impecunious” and took the clothing to keep warm in a “very cold environment,” his lawyer said.

The accused, who had a master’s degree in engineering, had been imprisoned in Algeria for two years for “writing controversial statements about the government” there on social media.

Judge McHugh said what the accused did was “not an appropriate way to thank your host nation or the businesses that operate there”.​