Man arrested for cycling stolen city rental bike ‘found it in a ditch', court hears
A father of one caught cycling a stolen rental bike in Dublin city centre told gardaí he had 'found it in a ditch'.
Lee Shields (30) had not rented the bike and was arrested for having it without permission, a court heard.
Judge John Hughes adjourned the case for the production of a probation report.
Shields, with an address at a Dublin city centre hostel, pleaded guilty to unauthorised taking of a pedal cycle.
Dublin District Court heard gardaí on duty at Smithfield Luas stop on April 24 this year saw Shields cycling a Dublin city rental bike.
He was stopped and asked where he got the bike. He told the garda he found it in a ditch, and that it was left there by a friend of his.
He was arrested and taken to the Bridewell garda station.
He had previous convictions.
Shields was homeless and fell into the 'trap' of drug use, his lawyer said.
He was very sorry for the offence but the lawyer pointed out that as it was a rental bike, it 'did not cause any great loss to any member of the public'.
Shields recently lost a family member in a drowning tragedy in a canal.
The accused was remanded on continuing bail to later this month.
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Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 28th
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