A 101-year-old man was taken to court for stealing over $2,000 worth of items — He pleaded guilty without a word of defense until his neighbor stood up and said, “Your honor, he made me promise not to tell you this.”
At the start the girls at Rossiter’s felt sorry for him. He can barely get along without that stick, and when somebody caught him he would apologise, quietly, and put it back.
It went on months. When it got past two thousand dollars the shop pressed charges.
In that courtroom he stood with both hands on the cane and he was shaking.
“Mr Mahon, I’ve seen the footage,” Judge Clathorne said. “What troubles me is the combination of things you kept taking. Can you tell me why you needed them?”
He put his head down.
“No, Your Honour. I took them. I’m guilty and I’m sorry.”
“You understand this could mean a custodial sentence?”
