Man fails to overturn his theft jail sentence

Man fails to overturn his theft jail sentence

25 May 2016

A RECOVERING alcoholic who stole £11,000 from faulty cash machines may have seen the opportunity as being like “manna from heaven”, a court has been told.

Counsel for Peter Anthony Young claimed he was on a drinking binge and vulnerable when he discovered a major glitch in the Ulster Bank ATMs.

But dismissing the 58-year-old Ardglass man’s appeal against being jailed for four months, senior judges ruled that Young had known what he was doing.

Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan said: “This man took advantage of a malfunction within the bank... and decided to help himself to a very substantial amount of money.”

Young, of Hunter’s Way in Ardglass, plundered ATMs in the Downpatrick area back in June 2012. Twenty-two separate withdrawals of £500 were made on the day in question.

Following repeated attempts by the bank to contact Young the case was referred to the police.

He eventually pleaded guilty to the thefts and was ordered to serve four months behind bars at Downpatrick Crown Court last month.

Defence lawyers challenged the sentence, arguing that he should instead have received a suspended sentence due to his personal circumstances.

At the Court of Appeal, Kieran Mallon QC said Young had been drinking on the day of the thefts and doesn’t remember what happened.

However, Lord Justice Weir responded: “If you’re in an intoxicated state to such an extent your memory has gone so would your powers of perambulation on repeated occasions to the ATM machine.”

Sir Declan added: “Never mind remembering your numbers.”

Mr Mallon accepted it had been a significant opportunistic crime.

But he argued that his client had been vulnerable and lacking in coping mechanisms when he first encountered the situation at the bank machine.

“One often hears the phrase it’s like manna from heaven,” the barrister said.”One can only imagine the impact that the malfunction in software had on this particular individual.”

Despite his submissions, Sir Declan insisted it was a breach of trust case.

“Just because a bank leaves a door open doesn’t mean you can walk in and help yourself to what’s sitting on the counter,” he added.

Pointing to the repeated nature of Young’s thieving on the day, the Lord Chief Justice held that it was within the trial judge’s powers to impose an immediate jail term.

He confirmed: “It did not give rise to any sentence that was manifestly excessive.”