Waterford court hears student returned phone stolen from café
Waterford courthouse.
A student who stole a phone from a Waterford café later returned the phone, pretending he had just found it, Waterford District Court has heard.
Bryan Je Le Law (26) of no fixed abode received the benefit of Section 1(1) of the Probation of Offenders Act 1907 for stealing a phone from a staff member at Café Nero on November 17, 2024.
The court was told that CCTV showed two males, one of which was the defendant, enter the café and sit down.
One male reached into a staff area and took a phone.
Later that day, the defendant went back to the café and returned the phone, saying he had found it.
The court was told that the defendant had one previous conviction for trespassing.
Acting for the defendant, solicitor Hilary Delahunty said: “It’s a slightly odd case. Hard to know what to make of it”.
He said his client was a Malaysian national who came to Ireland to study at SETU.
Things “went bad at his digs”, and he ended up sofa surfing.
From there, he had “a breakdown” believing that someone was chasing him and got himself into trouble.
Mr Delahunty said his client can’t tell him who took the phone, and getting instructions from him is difficult, as he is “all over the place”.
He said his parents want him to return to Malaysia, but he wants to finish his course, which he is now doing in Dundalk.
Judge John Cheatle acknowledged that if the defendant returned the phone, “he must feel some remorse”.
He applied section 1(1) of the Probation of Offenders Act 1907.
