Vasile Lazar: thefts across Europe, an Irish sentence and surrender to Italy
Romanian national Vasile Lazar came to Ireland from Britain and stole purses, phones and cash from shoppers in Dublin, Meath and Westmeath. He admitted eight thefts and an attempted robbery involving €9,745. None of the property was recovered. His record included theft convictions in Britain, Austria and Italy, and an Irish High Court order required his surrender to Italy after his Irish sentence.
Two shopping-centre theft sprees
Between 22 November 2022 and 24 January 2023, Lazar targeted distracted shoppers at locations including Donaghmeade, Swords, Artane, Bettystown and Mullingar. He pleaded guilty to eight theft counts and one attempted robbery.
CCTV captured him taking a purse from a bag hanging on a trolley. He later withdrew €500 using the stolen card and a PIN kept with it. In another incident he stole a purse and phone, then used Google Pay to send €650 to a Cyprus-based company. A further stolen card was used to withdraw €1,600.
The largest loss was €5,300 belonging to a victim's employer. The money had been wrapped and placed in a small purse before it disappeared while she shopped in Swords. The court heard that none of the €9,745 or other property was recovered.
The attempted robbery led to his arrest
A security guard saw Lazar trying to put his hand into an unknown shopper's jacket at a Donaghmeade store. Lazar left, drove at speed through the busy car park and was traced from the vehicle description and registration. In interview he identified himself on CCTV and accepted taking money, although he said he could not remember stealing the €5,300.
Judge Orla Crowe described the offending as mean-spirited, sly and underhanded and said Lazar selected people who were distracted. She imposed concurrent two-year sentences, backdated to the date he entered custody.
A foreign record and another sentence awaiting enforcement
Lazar had no previous Irish convictions, but the court was told of theft convictions in Britain, Austria and Italy. The available Irish reports do not give a complete count, dates or sentences for that foreign record, so this file does not manufacture them.
The High Court had ordered that Lazar be surrendered to Italy once he was no longer required to serve his Irish sentence. His counsel said he faced an Italian sentence of two years and eleven months. That is a reported future enforcement step, not proof in the sources reviewed that surrender later occurred. No current location or release date was located.
Arrival and immigration limits
The court heard that Lazar had a British address and was staying with a friend in Navan. He said he came to Ireland from Britain after a relationship breakdown. The sources establish Romanian nationality and an ordered judicial surrender to Italy. They do not establish his original entry date, residence permission, asylum history or any deportation order.
Judicial surrender under the European Arrest Warrant system is legally distinct from deportation. This file keeps those processes separate.
Direct loss and public-cost boundary
The adjudicated direct loss was €9,745, all unrecovered at sentencing. Applying the Irish Prison Service's 2024 average of €99,072 for an available, staffed prison space to the nominal two-year Irish term gives €198,144. This is a gross capacity benchmark, not Lazar's audited bill. Backdating, remission and actual release affect custody.
The comparison excludes Garda investigation, CCTV recovery, prosecution, courts, legal aid, prison healthcare, surrender proceedings, foreign liaison and the Italian sentence. It also cannot price the loss of confidence described by the victims.
Sources
- BreakingNews.ie, 6 October 2023 — detailed sentencing report, losses, prior record and surrender order.
- Irish Independent, 6 October 2023 — corroborating conviction and sentence report.
- Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 — statutory context for theft offences.
- European Arrest Warrant Act 2003 — statutory context for surrender.
- Irish Prison Service Annual Report 2024 — staffed-space cost benchmark.
Record checked: 31 July 2026. The two press reports derive from the same court reporting and are not presented as independent investigations. Foreign-conviction details remain limited to what was disclosed at sentencing, and actual surrender or release is not inferred.