Prison sentence for Glencolmcille man who smashed up pier wheelhouse

A serial burglar who broke into 19 holiday homes in Donegal has been jailed for six months after admitting smashing up the wheelhouse of a pier.

Timmy O'Gara is already serving a three-year sentence for the burglaries he committed between April and July of 2023 after watching a TikTok video of young people breaking into vacant homes.

O'Gara, 23, appeared at a special sitting of Letterkenny District Court by videolink from Castlerea Prison.

He is charged that on July 23, 2024, at Teelin Pier in Teelin, Carick, he did damage property to wit windows of the wheelhouse shed intending to damage such property or being reckless as to whether such property would be damaged.

The charge is contrary to Section 2(1) of the Criminal Damage Act.

His solicitor, Mr Rory O'Brien, said his client, of Drimroe, Glencolmcille, pleaded guilty to the charge.

He said O'Gara had been involved in a significant amount of events and was serving a sentence for those offences.

The accused told Judge Ciaran Liddy that he was not due to be released from prison until March, 2028.

Mr O'Brien said his client was a young man involved in a number of poor decision making incidents and that there had been complete despondency in his life at the time.

However, he added that his client was a gentleman whom he didn't have fear for in the future once he works on himself.

Judge Liddy imposed a six-month prison sentence but ordered it to run concurrently with O'Gara's current sentence.

A previous court heard O'Gara caused tens of thousands of euro of damage when he broke into the properties out of boredom, curiosity and the influence of a peer group.

The court was told that O’Gara is now deeply ashamed of what he did and has deep remorse for his victims.