Woman receives six-month suspended sentence in Carlow District Court for offences when she was a minor
Judge Geraldine Carthy Photo: michaelorourkephotography.ie
A WOMAN has received a six-month suspended sentence after she pleaded guilty to theft and burglary offences committed when she was a minor.
The woman, now 23, who cannot be named as she was under-18 at the time of the offences, appeared before Judge Geraldine Carthy at Carlow District Court. She pleaded guilty to theft contrary to section 4 of the and burglary contrary to section 12 of the same Act, both relating to incidents that occurred on 13 October 2019.
The court heard that at 9.45pm on 13 October 2019, gardaí received a report of a burglary at a house on Barrack Street, Carlow town. A resident of the property told gardaí that she had heard a loud bang at her door at around 8.20pm. Her son later reviewed CCTV footage, which showed a couple removing items from his vehicle and forcing the front door of the property open.
It was subsequently established that the same individuals had stolen five small bottles of Jameson whiskey, to the value of €25, from a licensed premises in the town. The defendant was identified on CCTV and made full admission following her arrest.
The court heard that the defendant has three previous convictions. Her most recent, from 2023, was for dangerous driving, for which she received a two-year disqualification. Her remaining convictions, dating from 2022, were recorded outside the jurisdiction.
Defence solicitor Joe Farrell told the court that his client had been in a relationship with the father of her child at the time of the offences and is now a lone parent. He said that around the same period, she had lost both her mother and grandmother and that she is now caring for her siblings.
Mr Farrell added that his client is in receipt of social welfare, had no compensation to offer the court and was no longer in that relationship. He also told Judge Carthy that his client was eager for the matter to be dealt with on the day.
Judge Carthy noted that there had been “quite a history before the court” of bench warrant issues and failures to appear. Taking into account the guilty plea and the mitigation put forward, the judge nonetheless described burglary as a “serious matter”.
The defendant was convicted on the burglary charge and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, with the theft matter taken into consideration. The judge directed that she enter into a €300 own bond and engage with the probation services.
