Cork man claims ‘mistaken identity’ in relation to  theft charges

A manager at a sports store in Cork city was pushed aside when he challenged the theft of €600 worth of sports clothing, but the man charged with the offence has denied it and claimed mistaken identity.

Leigh Moran, 30, of no fixed address, who testified that he could live at an address at Dublin St, Blackpool, Cork, was arrested last Friday and charged that on July 2 at Elvery Sports on Oliver Plunkett St, Cork, he stole the property and assaulted the manager.

Mr Moran denied both charges and applied for bail through his solicitor, Aoife Buttimer, at Cork District Court.

Garda Barry O’Shea objected to bail being granted to Mr Moran.

“It is alleged that at around 2pm on July 2, he entered Elvery’s, selected clothing to the value of €600, and left the shop, passing all points of payment without offering payment.

“CCTV footage captures the incident in its entirety,” said Gda O’Shea. “It captures the manager requesting him to return the items, but he pushes the manager before making his escape.”

Charged

The same man is charged with a more recent incident related to Thursday, July 11, shortly before 9pm, at Penney’s on Patrick St, where it was alleged that he went to the back door of the premises, kicked a door, smashed it, and caused €1,000 damage.

Leigh Moran was called by solicitor Aoife Buttimer in his application for bail and he testified: “I was homeless. I have the odd drink, I don’t touch no benzos. I don’t touch no drugs.

“I was walking through Penney’s and I got a box in the mouth, that is why I lashed out and kicked the door. My tooth is loose in my mouth right now. That is something they didn’t mention.

“Prison is not going to help me. I feel I never got a chance. I want to get a chance to do that [get into rehabilitation] now. I will turn up in court. I won’t make it harder for myself. I will sign on twice a day if you want me to.”

Cross-examined by Sergeant John Kelleher about the alleged incident at Elvery’s, Mr Moran said: “That was not me.”

Bail application

As the bail application was being considered by Judge Mary Dorgan, gardaí became aware that a young woman in court had texted another person telling her to “let on” she was a relative of the accused if gardaí rang to check if the defendant would be welcome to stay at her address.

As Judge Dorgan said this information effectively scuppered the bail application, Mr Moran stood up in the dock and said loudly: “Just leave it off — I am sick of this s**t.”

The young woman, who was not charged with any offence in relation to the text, was warned by Judge Dorgan that she put herself at risk of being remanded in custody for contempt of court. The judge said she would not do this on the present occasion, and told the young woman to leave the courtroom immediately.

Mr Moran was remanded in custody until Thursday, July 18.