‘Absolutely foolish’ pair stole debit card on St Stephen’s night

Two men in their 20s went on an “absolutely foolish” and “completely wrong” St Stephen’s Night crime spree when the pair picked up a debit card which had fallen from the grasp of their unsuspecting male victim, a court has been told.

Youcef Metali (25), 25 Oliver Plunkett Street, Mullingar, Westmeath, and Mohammed Rajab (20), 242 Greenpark Meadows, Mullingar, Westmeath, appeared at Mullingar District Court last Thursday charged with a series of thefts from the stolen card at various locations in Mullingar.

A total of 10 purchases, and two further attempted transactions were made shortly after both men were spotted on CCTV picking the card up off the ground inside a licensed premises just after 11.30pm that day.

Sgt Sheila Kenny said the men stole a total of just over €126 and a further two attempted thefts amounted to €16.

The court heard how Mr Metali and Mr Rajab were effectively caught red-handed.

“The suspects were questioned and they made admissions and the CCTV from the two locations captures the two suspects using the card,” Sgt Kenny said.

Having been told the two accused had no previous convictions and they would enter guilty pleas, defence barrister Andrea Callan, BL, said there was no escaping the seriousness of what her clients were now facing.

“This was a terrible thing to happen to someone who was just on a night out,” she said.

Ms Callan added that the pair had come to court with €150 in compensation.

She said Mr Rajab, who originated from Syria, had been in Ireland for four years and his co-accused had “asylum status”.

Ms Callan described the incident as a “crime of opportunity” and a matter which could have significant repercussions should the court decide to impose convictions.

Judge Bernadette Owens the men had only themselves to blame.

“They should have thought of that when they were out on St Stephen’s night,” she said. “What I can’t understand is, if they picked up a card, clearly the first thing you do is you hand it in to the barman and say: ‘Somebody, dropped that on the floor’.”

Ms Callan did not dispute that stance, but did request the possibility of probation reports being carried out on both her clients before proceedings were finalised.

“That’s absolutely what should have happened here and I cannot tell you how much both of these young men regret what was an absolutely foolish and completely wrong thing to do,” she said.

Given the fact there was compensation money to hand, the guilty pleas and the admissions made by the two accused, Ms Callan said Probation Service officials could go into “much more detail” on their backgrounds.

Taking into account the ages of the both men, Judge Owens agreed to directing probation reports on the duo. She also requested Probation Service to explore a restorative justice element to its exchanges with Mr Metali and Mr Rajab with a possibility of a minimum of 60 hours voluntary work also being factored in.

The pair were remanded on continuing bail to Mullingar District April 23, 2026.