A 34-YEAR-OLD man committed a litany of theft and motoring offences over a nine-month period as his life “spiralled out of control”, Fermanagh Magistrates Court has heard.

On one occasion, Michael James Boyd, whose address was given as C/O John Quinn Solicitors, Enniskillen, made his getaway on a bicycle belonging to a member of staff at the Tesco store in Enniskillen after earlier attempting to steal food and alcohol from the premises.

In what was described by district judge Nigel Broderick as a “litany of offences that cannot be condoned”, the defendant also admitted stealing bottles of vodka from the Costcutter store in Tempo on five separate occasions during May this year.

Despite observing that he had every reason to send the defendant to prison immediately, the judge decided to defer sentencing in the case for three months to allow him an opportunity to address his mental health and alcohol addiction issues.

Boyd was charged with stealing a bicycle to the value of £150 and various items of food worth £35.55 from Tesco on August 26 last year, and stealing a bottle of wine belonging to Asda Enniskillen on October 21 last year.

The 34-year-old was also charged with using a motor vehicle without insurance at Main Street, Derrygonnelly, driving with excess alcohol on his breath and not having a valid driving licence on January 6 this year.

He was further charged with stealing a bottle of vodka from the Costcutter store in Tempo on March 20 this year, as well as five more counts of stealing a bottle of vodka from the same shop on dates between May 15 and May 28 this year.

At his sentencing on Monday, the court heard that, at 3am on August 26, the defendant entered the Tesco off-licence and then walked around the shop, lifting several items. He made no attempt to pay before attempting to leave the store.

However, staff were waiting at the exit and took food and alcohol worth around £35 from the defendant. It later emerged that a bicycle belonging to a member of staff that was parked beside the ATM machine outside the store had been stolen.

CCTV footage showed the defendant cycling away from the store on the bicycle. Police attended the store and spoke to the staff.

After viewing the footage, officers were able to identify the defendant and conducted a search of his home. He was interviewed and admitted the theft, but told the police that he had no memory of the incident as he had been intoxicated.

The bicycle was not recovered as the defendant had “no recollection” of what happened to it, the court heard.

The, on October 23 last year, the defendant attempted to steal a bottle of wine from the Asda store in Enniskillen by concealing it in his trousers. However, he later handed it over to security staff, telling them that he had “changed his mind”.

Meanwhile, on January 6 this year, police on patrol in Derrygonnelly observed a black Vauxhall Vectra parked outside the Spar shop at the petrol station. Officers believed the car had broken down.

A van subsequently pulled up and two men got out, one of whom was the defendant. He opened the driver’s door and the bonnet of the car, explaining to the officers that the vehicle had indeed broken down.

Boyd told the police that the other man was helping him to start the car. Upon observing that the defendant’s eyes were glazed and his speech was slurred, officers arrested him for being drunk in charge of a vehicle.

He failed a preliminary breath test and was conveyed to Enniskillen custody suite. A further evidential breath test returned a reading of 82 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath – 47 micrograms in excess of the legal limit.

During interview he admitted the various offences, telling police that he had broken down after driving from his home and went to get help.

In relation to the various thefts from the Costcutter store in Tempo, the defendant admitted to stealing bottles of vodka on a total of six separate occasions, once on March 20 this year and then five more times during May. Each incident had been captured on CCTV and the bottles of vodka were not fit for resale, the court heard.

Defending solicitor, John Quinn, told the court that it was a “very difficult” case and admitted that his client had both mental health and alcohol addiction issues.

Mr Quinn said that the defendant had admitted himself voluntarily to the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital in Omagh for 11 days this summer following discussions with the community psychiatric nurse.

He added that Boyd had a further appointment with the nurse later this week.

After the judge inquired whether the defendant was receiving treatment for his alcohol addiction, Mr Quinn replied the two were “very much interlinked”.

The judge observed that, according to the pre-sentence report, the defendant’s lifestyle appeared to have “spiralled out of control” in the last year, adding that this situation would only change if the defendant engaged with the relevant bodies in a sincere manner.

When Mr Broderick told the court that “custody was very much on the agenda as well”, the solicitor said that his client had not committed any further offences since mid-May and urged the judge to consider deferring sentencing for three months.

Acceding to the request, Mr Broderick said the defendant would continue to re-offend until his mental health and alcohol addiction issues were addressed.

Adjourning the case for 12 weeks until November 16, the judge ordered the Probation Service to prepare an addendum to the existing pre-sentence report and directed the defendant to continue to engage with both the community psychiatric and addiction teams.

He warned the 34-year-old that failure to comply with any of these conditions would lead to an immediate custodial sentence.