Laois woman stole cooked chicken priced €3.99 - Courts - Laois Nationalist

The court heard that while the defendant had paid for some of the goods she had purchased

A 54-YEAR-OLD Laois woman who stole a cooked chicken priced at €3.99 appeared before Portlaoise District Court last week on theft charges.

Nicola Kavanagh, Loughgate, Portarlington pleaded guilty to the theft of groceries valued at €16.49 on 17 July from the Aldi store in Portarlington. Six days later, on 23 July, she returned to the same store and stole groceries costing €4.99 and a day later stole the cooked chicken.

The court heard that while the defendant had paid for some of the goods she had purchased, on the three days she had left the store without paying for others and had been identified by CCTV cameras.

Defence solicitor Josephine Fitzpatrick said the offences were carried out due to financial difficulties and at the time her circumstances were not good. She said that her client has no previous convictions and has said that she will never be before the court ever again.

Judge Andrew Gubbins applied the Probation Act in the case after he was told that Ms Kavanagh had brought money to court to reimburse the store.