'Abusive' Longford woman spat at Penneys security staff and manager

A grandmother who spat at security personnel at a Penneys outlet in Longford has been directed to engage with the probation services.

Kathleen Delaney of 3 Midland Court, Longford pleaded guilty at Longford district court to a section 2 assault on August 15, 2022 at Penneys, Longford Shopping Centre.

Sergeant Enda Daly said Gardaí were notified of a disturbance at 11.45am.

"The defendant was present in that area and she became abusive and very threatening towards security personnel and the manager, resulting in her spitting at the security and manager at that location."

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Sgt Daly said the defendant had some previous convictions which were 'historical' with the most recent occurring in 1997.
Solicitor Bríd Mimnagh said her client had been in a 'chaotic situation' for some time and she had suffered two bereavements of young family members within the past two years.

"She had a chaotic lifestyle, but she is now doing really well and she is actually delighted to be working full time now and she also looks after her grandchildren.

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"She has been out of trouble for a considerable amount of time."

Judge Deirdre Gearty addressed Sgt Daly and said she believed the manager at Penneys deserved a phone call to update him on the case and she believed a 'restorative justice'-type sentence would be appropriate.

"Restorative justice is one of the buzzwords that is floating around in the world at the moment and I don't want to take up people's time unnecessarily but it strikes me that this is a situation that Ms Delaney, if she is apologetic for what she has done, she could write him a letter or she could make a charitable donation to a charity of his choice."

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Judge Gearty directed Ms Delaney to engage with the probation services so they could assess and decide on the best way to proceed with the restorative justice element and she adjourned the case until September 2 next.