Limerick mother jailed following spate of theft offences to feed drug habit

A LIMERICK woman who has, on occasion, consumed up to 40 bags of crack cocaine in a day has been jailed for her role in a string of theft and robbery offences throughout the city.

Danielle McCormack, aged 34, with an address at Ballinacurra, Weston, Limerick city, pleaded guilty to a number of charges when she appeared before Judge Colin Daly.

Giving evidence in relation to one robbery incident, Detective Garda Michael Brennan described how shortly after 9pm on April 17, 2025, another woman was waiting for a bus at St John’s Square when she was approached by Ms McCormack, who asked if she had €2.

After the victim, aged in her late 20s, informed her she had no money, Ms McCormack began pulling at her handbag. The victim began crying and asked that she be left alone.

The court heard that Danielle McCormack told the victim not to cry and that a man then approached the pair.

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Prosecuting Barrister John O’Sullivan said McCormack and this man were “very aggressive” towards the victim. They both demanded that she let go of her bag before she was eventually pushed to the ground.

The victim’s bag was taken and emptied by McCormack. €80 in cash was removed, along with a necklace that has sentimental value.

At Limerick Circuit Court, Judge Colin Daly heard that what happened was a “traumatic experience” for the victim, who was “vulnerable” and a patient of a psychiatric ward at the time.

Danielle McCormack was arrested some time later and when interviewed by gardaí, she made full admissions. She told them she “didn’t mean” to put the victim in fear and cannot recall much of the events.

In mitigation, barrister Erin O’Hagan submitted her client was “exceptionally” co-operative with gardaí following the incident and that her drug addiction was the cause of her offending. She said McCormack had consumed “40 bags a day” of crack cocaine at times in her life and that she is remorseful.

Judge Daly was told that the mother-of-three, who has no employment history, has 112 previous convictions, including 79 for theft and four for robbery.

Giving evidence in relation to another offence, Detective Garda Shane Stanley said that on October 7, 2025, shortly after 5:30am, a woman, aged in her early 40s, was on her way to work when she was robbed.

The victim in this case was walking on Henry Street in the city centre when she observed McCormack exiting a shop. She then approached the victim and asked her for money. The victim told her she did not have any.

From here, Judge Daly heard that Ms McCormack followed the woman and tried to open the backpack she was carrying. She made further attempts to hit and push the victim before ripping the backpack from her shoulders.

The mother-of-three rummaged through the bag and made off with some possessions, including a small amount of money, a Leap card, debit card and a phone charger, among others.

Just minutes after the offence, Danielle McCormack used the victim’s debit card in a coffee shop before attempting to make two purchases at a retail premises Thomondgate - both attempts were unsuccessful.

She was arrested on December 23, 2025 and made full admissions, also identifying herself on CCTV. She has been in custody since Christmas Eve of that year.

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Ms O’Hagan disclosed that her client was in active addiction at the time and would steal items to sell them on in order to fund her drug habit. She said her client wishes to apologise to all of her victims.

She added that the mother wishes to avail of treatment upon her release from prison

The barrister told the court that Ms McCormack, who works as a cleaner in prison, takes full responsibility for her actions and that her support network is at “quite low” level.

Appearing via video-link from Limerick Prison, Judge Daly told Ms McCormack that he was satisfied her offending fell into the upper end of the lower range and set a headline sentence of four years imprisonment on each robbery charge.

In mitigation, Judge Daly took into account her guilty pleas, her “chronic addiction to drugs,” her young age, her three children and the fact that her apologies seemed “heartfelt and sincere”.

He imposed a sentence of two years and six months on two of the robbery charges, which will run consecutively to each other as she was on bail at the time of the offences.

The mother-of-three also came before Limerick Circuit Court on a signed guilty plea relating to seven shoplifting charges. Imposing sentence, Judge Daly said he was going to take a “global approach.”

He further sentenced Ms McCormack to one year in prison on each of these seven charges. As she was also on bail when she committed the offences, the sentences are to run concurrently to one another but consecutively to the second robbery offence.

In total, Ms McCormack was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with the final 18 months suspended for a period of five years subject to her own bond of €100. She must also be of good behaviour and keep the peace when she is released.

The mother-of-three was told to engage with the Probation Services within a year of her release to support her reintegration into society.

The sentence was backdated to Christmas Eve 2025, when she first entered custody.