Seasonal cheer for Christmas anglers

Brasserie Sixty6, Georges St, Dublin

My tale of seasonal good cheer comes from the pages of the Irish Examiner and concerns a lucrative fishing expedition and a fine Christmas dinner at a top Dublin restaurant, all provided gratis to four burglars.

On Christmas Eve 2005, two men broke into Brasserie Sixty6 through the back door, and left with some drinks, leaving the door "on the latch" in order to come back for more.

On Christmas Day, two homeless men, walking in a laneway behind the restaurant, and noticing the back door ajar,  pushed their way in and spent the day in the restaurant, drinking wine and eating food.  On Christmas night, the two original burglars returned and amicably joined the homeless pair, afterwards leaving with electronic equipment, paintings and a "takeaway" of food.

Using fishing rods, they also "fished out" €8,000 in notes from the restaurant’s drop safe.

The intruders were prosecuted and pleaded guilty to their crime.

The foregoing is from a court report dated Wednesday, January 18, 2012. The case reported on was not the prosecution of the burglars, but a civil action between the restaurant and an alarm company, Safe and Secure Ltd.  The court learned that when the company had installed the alarm, they failed to fit wire connectors at the back door. This oversight enabled the unauthorised angling and dining.

The case was settled for €27,400 damages.