Pomeroy man narrowly avoids jail after being caught on CCTV using stolen credit card

East Tyrone Magistrates Court heard how police received a complaint from the injured party on September 2, 2014 stating that on the day her credit card had been stolen someone had attempted to use it in a local shop.

CCTV identified 46-year-old Denis Harvey from Trainor’s Terrace. He denied all allegations.

Mr Blaine Nugent, defending, told the court that his client, a father-of-two, had an ongoing issue with alcohol.

He said on the night in question he had been socialising and had “undertaken this activity” though conceded that he “ought to have known that the card was stolen”.

“It is very finely balanced,” District Judge John Meehan told the defendant. “These offences are two-years-old now and so I take into account that you have not come before the court in the mean time.

“However, the pre-sentence report summarises that you have been involved in the criminal justice system since 1986... since 1986 you have been an offender and have never been to jail.”

Handing down two concurrent four-month periods of imprisonment for handling stolen goods and attempted fraud by false representation, Judge Meehan ordered that they be suspended for three years.

“You’ve been dealt with by the full range of sentences. You appear in court over the next three years and you’ll serve four months,” he warned.