Two men jailed for stealing goods worth £700 from Omagh stores

TWO men have been jailed after the theft of alcohol and groceries totalling nearly £700.

Csaba Podhraczky (33), from Omagh, and Ferenc Baranyai (43), from Augher, appeared before Omagh Magistrates Court via videolink last week. Both were charged with the three thefts.

However, Baranyai also faced two counts of driving while disqualified and two counts of driving without insurance.

The offences started on May 16 when CCTV captured the duo leaving ASDA without paying for two boxes of whiskey, totalling £276.48.

Then, on June 8 between 2pm and 4pm, the pair were again seen on CCTV leaving McCullagh’s Service Station without paying for alcohol and groceries, which included biscuits, Nutella jars and traybakes, totaling £197.

The last offence took place on June 17 at ASDA, where the pair stole 15 bottles of Smirnoff Vodka.

On two occasions, Baranyai was seen driving in and out of the shops, despite being disqualified.

CCTV of all offences were shown to the police and, on June 20, the spree came to an end when the defendants were located after attempting to flee on foot.

They were both arrested and made admissions at interview.

Defence counsel Joe McCann, who represented one defendant but also stood in for defence counsel Brian O’Sullivan’s client, told the court that credit should be given for the defendants’ early guilty pleas.

He added that neither men had previous convictions for theft.

Mr McCann explained that neither defendants had problems with alcohol but admitted that the goods were likely stolen to ‘resell’.

District Judge Ted Magill said there was ‘no possibility’ of the retailers getting compensation for the stolen goods but gave credit for their guilty pleas.

Podhraczky was handed a three-month custodial sentence for the three thefts, but Baranyai was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for the additional motoring offences.