Limerick woman warned she may face prison over theft offences

A LIMERICK woman who stole over €400 worth of goods from a store in Nenagh has been fined for theft offences.

Ciara Curtin, aged 24, of Castlequarter Heights, Fedamore, County Limerick, pleaded to theft relating to an incident at Homesavers, Nenagh, on September 14, 2022.

The court heard that there were other parties involved and they had been dealt with in another forum. The goods, worth €403, were recovered by gardai.

Ms Curtin, who was in custody on the date of the hearing, has 10 previous convictions, including three for theft, the court heard.

Her solicitor, David Peters, told the court that his client is a single parent with a four-year-old child. She was four months pregnant.

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Mr Peters said that Ms Curtin had never been in custody before and the prospect of being in prison for Christmas  was a “real wake-up call”.

Ms Curtin told the judge that she was “very sorry” for what had happened and that she would never engage in such behaviour in the future.

Imposing sentence, Judge Elizabeth MacGrath pointed out that Ms Curtin has previous convictions for theft and she warned that at some point she could face a prison sentence.

She fined Ms Curtin €100 and ordered that she engage with the Probation Services.

Recognizance were fixed in the event of an appeal in Ms Curtin’s own bond of €250.