At a special sitting of Castlebar District Court on Monday, Judge Kevin Kilrane told an 18-year-old Castlebar woman to “keep your hands off goods you don’t pay for” warning that otherwise she would be sent to prison.
Garda Hugh O’Donnell outlined that on March 23 at 12.50pm, Martina McDonagh, 95 Springfield, Castlebar, along with two others, entered Londis Plus, Station Road, Castlebar, where three bottles of whiskey were stolen. McDonagh, who was heavily pregnant at the time, placed an empty whiskey box back on the shelf after its contents were removed and also handed a bottle to a person who concealed it. The value of the three bottles was €84.97 — only one bottle was recovered.
The defendant has a previous conviction for theft. Judge Kilrane said that he would finalise the matter on October 1 in Ballina Children’s Court and told the defendant, “I don’t care if you are a mother of two or 22, you cannot steal. It makes no difference for me to send you to prison or not. The HSE will look after your children, so if you re-offend between now and October you will spend three months in prison.”
