Man rolls into court for trolley escapade

AN Omagh man faced the ‘wheels of justice’ this week after stealing more than 60 shopping trolleys from a local supermarket.

The judge at Omagh Magistrates Court on Tuesday said he was ‘mind-boggled’ by the offence, which also included the theft of 201 plastic boxes.

Martin McDonagh, 21, of Culmore Park was responsible for the peculiar heist from Marks and Spencer (M&S) in the Omagh Showgrounds Retail Park last month. CCTV footage captured him loading 63 trolleys and the 201 containers into his van on September 28.

Police responded to the report of theft and, upon arrival at McDonagh’s address, found the trolleys lined up beside his vehicle.

Judge Ted Magill, perplexed by the unusual theft, observed, “That’s an awful lot of trolleys. Who would you even sell these to?”

He noted that the trolleys were likely branded for M&S, adding, “Were you planning to sell them back to another M&S?”

McDonagh’s defence counsel, Brian O’Sullivan, conceded the plan was ‘bound to fail’ given that McDonagh used his own van, the registration of which was visible on CCTV. He confirmed that all the stolen items had been recovered. McDonagh received a three-month suspended sentence, with Judge Magill cautioning him to stay out of trouble for two years or risk the sentence being revisited.