A judge had such little faith in the prison system’s ability to keep an addict in jail that he refused to convict her despite six guilty pleas of theft committed whilst at large from a previous prison sentnece.
Emma Quinn (23 ) was arrested on July 6 at her home at Bower View, Athlone after failing to return to prison on June 4 after breaching a temporary release (TR ) granted in April, with some of these six offences.
The court heard how Quinn had falsely claimed a lone-parent allowance from the post office on each of the dates June 28 and 29, worth €450 in total. On June 12 she stole a purse from an elderly lady in Farrells of Glasson with €106 in it, and on June 10 she took €490 worth of clothes from Athlone town centre, none of which were recovered.
Garda Padraig Hession also told the court how Quinn pleaded guilty to the theft of a handbag from St Mary’s church during Communion on May 22 but was apprehended nearby by gardai and the bag was returned.
Then, on April 14 she stole some jewellery boxes from Easons in the town centre by hiding them in her five-year-old son’s schoolbag and on April 1 took two computer monitors worth €500 from Aldi, none of which was recovered.
Inspector Nicholas Farrell told the court how Quinn had 36 previous convictions, 30 for theft, three for burglary and three for drugs offences.
On her July 7 appearance, her solicitor, Padraig Quinn told the court how Quinn was “a heroin addict who stole to feed her habit”.
“She is generally detected and always co-operative,” said Mr Quinn, who went on to explain how his client had been on a methadone waiting list for two years and “needed assistance”.
“She wishes to apologise but knows this will be of little comfort or consolation to the injured parties,” said Mr Quinn.
“Most, but not all of these offences were committed subsequent to her getting TR?” asked Judge David Anderson.
“If I sentence her today she’ll most probably get TR before the weekend. Prison Services will have done nothing and she’s two years waiting for the HSE. “Because she does not live in a certain area of Dublin, she doesn’t get access to drug treatment,” he continued.
“I could keep her in Dóchas [women’s prison] and defeat the TR system by remanding her for four weeks if she’d consent,” said Judge Anderson on July 7.
However, when informed a four-week remand wasn’t possible in this case, he ordered a probation report be prepared on Quinn and remanded her in custody for one week.
After the probation report was submitted to the court this week (July 14 ), Quinn was released on bail and ordered to appear at Mullingar District Court on August 2 for sentencing.
After a previous TR, four months into a 22-month sentence handed down on May 22, 2009, Quinn invited undercover gardai back to her home to sell them heroin after just a month out.
