Jail for man who smashed shop’s CCTV cameras
A Polish national, who smashed CCTV cameras at a shop in Carrickmacross four years ago, was handed a four-month prison sentence at Monaghan District Court when it emerged he had failed to raise any compensation to cover the damage.
Daniel Basiukiewicz (39) with an address at an apartment on Parnell Street, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, had pleaded guilty at an earlier sitting to causing criminal damage at Snipz Barbers, Main Street, Carrickmacross, on April 25, 2022. The items damaged were listed as being the property of Mr Zemari Jalizad. Basiukiewicz also admitted engaging in threatening behaviour and public intoxication on the town’s Main Street on the same date.
Judge Raymond Finnegan noted at the outset of the case that the defendant had been ordered to raise €1,200 in compensation for the injured party, but Roisin Courtney, solicitor, said her client wasn’t aware that he was supposed to have money in court.
The judge was clearly unimpressed, however, stating that the defendant would have been aware of the position since the time he entered a guilty plea in February 2023.
Sergeant Lisa McEntee highlighted how bench warrants had been issued in the meantime due to the defendant’s failure to show up in court on four occasions the case was listed.
Ms Courtney said her client had mental health problems and wasn’t working, making compensation unlikely.
The sergeant reminded Judge Finnegan that the damage was in relation to the CCTV system at the shop in question. Basiukiewicz returned to the premises with a baseball bat and smashed the cameras.
She also confirmed that he had three previous convictions, in 2019 and 2020, for public order matters including public intoxication.
Judge Finnegan said the issue here was that a small barber’s shop in Carrickmacross was at a loss of €1,200 because of Basiukiewicz’s actions.
So, because compensation was not being provided “in any shape or form”, the judge said he was giving a four-month prison sentence, with the two public order charges being taken into account on that basis.
Recognisances were fixed in the event of appeal.