Charity box thief shocked by CCTV footage of "despicable" act

Friday 01 June 2018

A 39-year-old man said he was left shocked by CCTV footage of himself stealing a charity box from town as part of a series of offences that landed him with 40 hours' community service and a 12-month probation order.

Kevin McCorkell was handed the sentence in the Magistrate's Court yesterday.

His defence lawyer told the Court that he had described the theft as "despicable" after viewing the footage of himself stealing the diabetes collection box from a store in Colomberie in March.

Advocate Rebecca Morley-Kirk described McCorkell’s action as being totally out of character and that he was ashamed and embarrassed. It’s not known how much money was in the box, but McCorkell wrote to the charity offering to work for them to pay back the cash. "Perhaps, not surprisingly, under the circumstances", Advocate Morley-Kirk stated, "he has not heard back from them."

McCorkell was also charged with having a small amount of illegal drugs – two steroid tablets, and cannabis for personal use – and stealing a litre bottle of rum worth around £25 from the Co-Op in Don Street.

Magistrate Sarah Fitz, presiding, accepted a series of "tragic events" had led McCorkell into a downward spiral, but told the Court it was important to issue the community service order because of the thefts. Nevertheless, she had reduced the number of hours he had to serve because he was having surgery on his wrist and this might impact on his ability to carry out the order.