Man who stole €2,000 from pharmacy pays back every penny

A thief who “acted in concert” with his wife to steal more than €2,000 of worth of cosmetics from a pharmacy has escaped a criminal conviction after paying back the money in full.

Daniel Marius Cociu of Wotton, Ashbourne, Meath committed the theft after arriving in a 251 registered Suzuki Swift rental car at Harbour Shopping Centre, Mullingar, Westmeath on October 9 last year.

Mr Cociu (29), a sitting of Mullingar District Court previously heard, had been in Ireland a matter of months six months when he “acted in concert” with his wife to steal €2,105 of items from the Boots pharmacy at Harbour Place.

The majority of the stolen goods were make-up and skincare products and Mr Cociu was “keeping watch” as his wife – who later flew back to Romania with the items – walked around the store and filled her handbag.

Gardaí identified the couple through the car rental company their vehicle was linked to, and Mr Cociu was arrested at Dublin Airport.

Judge Bernadette Owens was told that during his arrest and interview with officers, Mr Cociu made admissions by confirming he and his wife as the two suspects on the store’s internal CCTV system.

The stolen goods have not been retrieved, the court heard.

A character reference was also handed in to the court from Mr Cociu’s landlord.

His wife is now pregnant having returned to Romania following the theft. The couple, who have two children, had acted in a “joint enterprise”, said defence barrister Andrea Callan, BL, due the dire financial straits they had found themselves in at the time.

Ms Callan had, at a court sitting in February, asked for time to be afforded to her client to gather compensation with the help of his family.

Mr Cociu returned to Mullingar District Court last Thursday and handed over all €2,105.

Judge Owens said the court would be willing to preserve Mr Cociu’s previous unblemished record by issuing section 1 (1) of the Probation Act.

However, she advised him “this is the first and last time” such an opportunity would be given to him.