“I’m very sorry. I was going through a bad time,” a woman brought before Tuam District Court told Judge James Faughnan.
The woman in her fifties had no previous conviction and attributed her behaviour to grief following the death of her mother.
Katherine O’Brien, Corrgarry, Mountbellew was brought before the court in custody to face a charge of theft and a public order offence.
She pleaded guilty to stealing three bottles of Estevez Chardonnay valued at €23 from Aldi in Ballinasloe on April 4, and on April 9 she caused a disturbance at Supermac’s, Main Street, Ballinasloe. Gardaí were called and she was in a highly intoxicated condition and had to be arrested for her own safety.
Martina Moran solicitor (defending ) pleaded that her client was 57 and had no previous convictions. Her mother had died recently and she took this very badly. She emphasised that her client’s behaviour was “out of the ordinary for her.”
Judge Faughnan said he would put the case back to the April 23 sitting of the court to allow the defendant come up with compensation for the theft.
“If she has it and as she has not previous convictions, I’ll look at it in a particular light,” he concluded.
