Aunt and niece worked as ‘team’ to rob groceries from Longford supermarket

An aunt and niece who acted as a shoplifting team on two separate occasions to steal groceries worth more than €900 from a Longford supermarket have been convicted.

Maria Poenaru (52) of Coolmine Court, Dublin and Jennifer Zlatineanu of Hollyville Lawn, Palmerstown, Dublin pleaded guilty at Longford District Court to shoplifting at SuperValu, Hazelwood Shopping Centre on February 2, 2024 and March 23, 2024.

Sgt Conor McShane, court presenter, said they entered the store on the earlier date and concealed a large quantity of groceries valued at €580 on the bottom of a pram.

The court heard Zlatineanu's young child was in the pram at the time of the incident and they were captured on CCTV leaving the store without attempting to pay for the goods, which were not recovered.

The defendants entered the same supermarket again on March 23 last and they used a child's pram again to conceal groceries valued at €340 and attempted to leave without paying.

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However, the pair were observed by security personnel who stopped them and notified the Gardaí.

The court heard Poenaru, a Romanian mother of four who has lived in Ireland for 20 years, had six previous convictions, while Zlatineanu had no previous convictions.

Defence solicitor Bríd Mimnagh handed in €590 in compensation and stated Poenaru had faced financial difficulties due to a family illness and she stated Zlatineanu had no history of shoplifting.

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Judge Owens insisted they had both working together and they were equally culpable.

She said if Poenaru is deemed suitable she will impose a community service order of 180 hours in lieu of four months imprisonment.

She imposed a €250 fine on Zlatineanu with five months to pay.