Prison sentence for shoplifter who 'roared' abuse at Tipperary Mass-goers

A serial offender who "roared abuse" at Mass-goers at a church in county Tipperary has been jailed for several shoplifting offences.

Krzstof Kostka, aged 44, of no fixed abode, appeared before Nenagh District Court to face theft and public order charges, arising from a number of incidents last year.

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Prosecuting Sergeant Regina McCarthy told the court that Mr Kostka was charged in connection with theft incidents at Aldi, Tesco and Dunnes Stores in Roscrea.

Sgt McCarthy outlined that the first incident occurred on June 22, 2025 at the Tesco in Roscrea where Mr Kostka took alcohol to the value of €15 and made "no attempt" to pay for the goods which were not recovered.

Mr Kostka was subsequently identified via CCTV footage.

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Two further incidents occurred on July 11 last, at Aldi and Dunnes Stores in Roscrea.

Sgt McCarthy told the court that in Aldi, Mr Kostka can be seen on CCTV footage taking five cans of beer from a shelf and putting three into his bag. He can then also be seen to put "cheese in his pocket" before leaving the store.

In Dunnes Stores, Mr Kostka stole alcohol to the value of €10. None of the goods taken from Dunnes Stores or Aldi were recovered.

Mr Kostka also pleaded guilty to public order charges relating to an incident last August.

Sgt McCarthy told the court that on August 11 2025 at 5:13pm gardai received reports of a male "causing a nuisance" on Gaol Road in Roscrea.

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She outlined that when gardai arrived Mr Kostka appeared to be "highly intoxicated" and was subsequently arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994.

The following morning, August 12, at 10am, gardaí went to St Cronan’s Church Roscrea in response to reports of a man causing a disturbance.

They found Mr Kostka asleep on a bench inside the church and when woken, he began “roaring abuse” at Mass-goers and was then arrested by gardai.

Mr Kostka entered a guilty plea to all of the charges before the court.

Judge Marie Keane was told the defendant has 73 previous convictions, including 27 under Section 4 and eight under Section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, as well as 11 offences under Section 4 for theft.

The court heard that he is currently serving a prison sentence for separate and unrelated criminal damage and public order offences.

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Solicitor Liz McKeever said her client is "Polish with a significant alcohol addiction" explaining that Mr Kostka lives in homeless shelters in Roscrea and has no fixed abode.

Judge Keane acknowledged that Mr Kostka has a "significant alcohol addiction" and that he is "stealing to feed that addiction but that cannot continue."

She imposed a six month prison sentence in relation to the theft incident at Aldi, to run consecutively with the sentence Mr Kostka is currently serving. All of the other theft and the public order matters were taken into consideration.