Woman in Longford found in possession of stolen perfume gift sets worth €1,600

A defendant was found in possession of stolen perfume gift sets which were valued at €1,600, the recent sitting of Longford District Court heard.

Appearing before the court was Ann Collins of 27 Avilla Park, Finglas, Dublin 11, who was charged with the theft of children's toys and groceries amounting to €698 from Tesco, Longford Shopping Centre, Townspark, Longford on November 17, 2022.

The court heard that she also had in her possession perfume gift sets, stolen from a pharmacy in Mullingar, which were valued at €1,600.

Garda Sergeant Mark Mahon said following one of the thefts, gardaí on patrol stopped a car which was seen leaving the scene and the goods were found in the car.

When Judge Bernadette Owens asked if the defendant was driving, Sgt Mahon said she was sitting in the driver’s seat, with the keys in the ignition.

The defendant had two previous convictions for theft, one of which was outside the jurisdiction in Northern Ireland, where a six months’ prison sentence had been suspended for two years.

Defence solicitor Diarmuid Quinn said the defendant’s son had “a serious drug addiction and had amassed a serious debt” in Finglas in Dublin and she was trying to help him pay this off.

The defendant’s health is not good and she had two previous heart attacks.

When Mr Quinn said the defendant was not known to gardaí, Judge Bernadette Owens said: “She is known to gardaí”.

Mr Quinn explained that she had not been involved in crime, apart from the period she was trying to help her son.

“She was trying to repay these debts from her dole money,” he said.

The defendant was entitled to credit for her guilty plea, Judge Owens said. However, it was an aggravating factor that she had committed the offences shortly after a conviction for similar offences in another jurisdiction.

Judge Owens said the value of the goods involved was also an aggravating factor.

A 4 months’ prison sentence was imposed on the defendant, which was suspended for 18 months, with the defendant to enter a bond of €250.

A fine of €250 was also imposed.

Sgt Mahon said some of the items could not be returned to the shops, as they did not know which ones they came from. He suggested they could be put to good use by local charities.