A judge yesterday criticised the vetting of private security personnel when he jailed a security guard who burgled a bank he was guarding of nearly £11,000 in goods. He was jailed for five years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The court heard that Richard Glavin (52) had 27 previous convictions. He was employed by another security firm after he burgled Anglo Irish Bank on St Stephen's Green, Dublin, before he was fired early this year.
Judge Frank O'Donnell criticised Security Plus, of South Circular Road, Dublin, for its security checking system. He said he was amazed that someone of Glavin's criminal record was "let loose" around a bank. The first priority of any security firm should be to check if employees had a criminal record.
Glavin, of Matt Talbot Court, Summerhill, Dublin, pleaded guilty to the July 24th, 1998, burglary.
Det Garda Michael Quinn told Ms Isobel Kennedy BL, prosecuting, that a week before the theft, Glavin made duplicates of the keys to the bank's gates. On the night of the burglary, he waited until another security guard left before entering after midnight. He used a swipe card and a security code to deactivate the alarm.
He stole a special video unit worth £8,500, 14 bottles of spirits, two televisions, and a quantity of ashtrays, jugs and Waterford crystal glasses. He put them in a van and drove home.
Glavin failed to turn up for work at another location the next day and gardai found the goods in his house two days after the burglary. He made a statement in which he admitted the burglary to get "an extra few bob".
He agreed with Mr Luan O Braonain BL, defending, that he had a chronic drink problem.
Judge O'Donnell suspended the last three years of the sentence on condition that Glavin keep the peace for the same length of time. He declined leave to appeal the severity of the sentence.