Limerick woman jailed for stealing over €1,000 in goods

A WOMAN who carried out a spate of thefts, stealing over €1,000 worth of goods in five months, has been jailed.

46-year-old Leanne McCarthy of 61 Upper Careys Road was before Limerick District Court in connection with five charges of theft between April and August of this year.

The first was on April 29 at Garvey’s Supervalu in Corbally when the accused stole groceries to the value of €80.27.

Sergeant Aisling O’Neill told the court that there was no effort to pay for the goods, which were not recovered. Ms McCarthy was later identified on CCTV.

On July 28, the accused took €99.60 worth of goods without paying for them at Circle K on the Corbally Road.

Three days later, Ms McCarthy stole €476.20 worth of items from Elvery’s sports shop in the Crescent Shopping Centre.

On August 4, she stole €319.45 worth of goods from the same store.

None of the items were recovered and Ms McCarthy was identified on CCTV, Sergeant O’Neill told the court.

On August 17, she went to Ballinacurra Late Night Pharmacy and stole 43 worth of cosmetic items. The items were not recovered.

Ms McCarthy has 170 previous convictions, including 121 in the Republic of Ireland and 49 in Northern Ireland for theft, stolen property, misuse of drugs, road traffic, and public order offences.

Her solicitor, Sarah Ryan, told the court that an objection to bail was made in the court earlier in September.

She said her client had temporarily gotten back into drug use, namely prescription medication and tablets.

Ms Ryan added that the accused has had a difficult background and has received assistance at various points.

She said that while Ms McCarthy is doing well, she went back on tablets due to the fact that she is no longer in contact with her children.

Judge Derek McCarthy said the accused was before the courts on serious matters and that he was familiar with the accused’s circumstances.

Ms McCarthy was sentenced to five months in prison backdated to September 3.