A bench warrant has been issued for a man who failed to show up to court to be sentenced for a spate of burglaries in Dublin.

Matthew Fahey, formerly of Cappagh Road in Finglas, is credited with coming up with the criminal craze 'phishing'.

It involves attaching a magnet to the end of a fishing rod or long pole and then pushing it through a letterbox and using it to remove keys behind locked doors.

Fahey is attributed with coming up with the crooked tactic and today he was due to be sentenced for a spree of thefts across the city. The 35-year-old was granted bail ahead of his sentencing, but was nowhere to be seen when his name was called in court today.

A bench warrant has been issued and gardai have been instructed to find him and bring him to court.

At a previous court appearance, his lawyers outlined how their client was a recovered drug addict.

It was put to Judge Mary-Ellen Ring that he had been off drugs for some time and that a jail term would only block his road to rehabilitation.