A 23-year-old Mullingar woman has received an 11 month sentence after being convicted of 17 thefts.
Sonia Connolly, who has an address at 22B Patrick Street was convicted of a number of offences stretching back to 2007 at a range of locations in Offaly and Westmeath.
They included thefts of toys, earrings, school stationery, cash from a handbag, and a number of televisions.
In all, Ms Connolly stole goods to the value of €3,175. Only €1,892 worth were recovered, Inspector Kieran Keyes told the court.
Mr Louis Kiernan said his client had suffered a lot of tragedy in her life but had recently handed herself into gardaí and was serving a sentence at Mountjoy.
He said Ms Connolly, a long time heroin user, was now looking well and not taking heroin or methadone and was determined to turn her life around.
A series of bench warrants had to be issued for her because she was unable to get to court in Tullamore.
Judge Neilan said he wished Sonia well and pointed out that he had endeavoured over more than three years to motivate her.
He said it was tragic that a young person found herself on the slippery slope of heroin addiction and appreciated the difficulty she would have in overcoming her addiction.
He imposed an 11 month sentence on one of the theft charges and a four month sentence relating to a previous assault in Clara, Co Offaly in 2008.
