The saga of the early morning theft of a Brennan’s Bread van in Ballinasloe got a fresh outing at Ballinasloe District Court, hot on the heels of the van lady’s appearance in person at Tuam District Court two days before. Some stories never go stale.
Catherine O’Brien (no fixed abode ) appeared before Judge James Faughnan at Ballinasloe District Court via video link from Dóchas women’s prison.
She has been in custody since Gardaí brought to a halt the bread van she had taken off in at 7.25am from outside Eurospar in Ballinasloe. She had left the store minutes earlier with a bottle of wine.
O’Brien insists that she had no intention of stealing any of that day’s daily bread; she just wanted to keep warm in the van.
Unfortunately, matters got warmer than she anticipated when she tore the side off the van in a collision with the local AIB branch.
She was kept in custody overnight and appeared before Judge Faughnan at the local court the following morning, where Gardaí strenuously objected to her being given bail on account of her making such a nuisance of herself around the town and racking up a not-inconsiderable number of alleged offences.
O’Brien’s May 7 appearance was her first time before a court in her 58 years, she pleaded, but Gardaí maintained their opposition to her being granted bail.
The defendant pleaded that her mother had died three months previously, and she took to the drink to relieve her grief.
Judge Faughnan has repeatedly told O’Brien that the main reason he was remanding her in custody is that he wants her to receive treatment while she was in custody.
When she appeared once again via video link at Ballinasloe District Court she was well-mannered and apologetic, pledging to pay for the damage she caused when she got out.
In answer to the judge’s question she said she had seen the prison doctor a couple of times and now acknowledged she needs what she described as “health care.”
“I took to the drink after mum passed over three months ago,” she said.
Gearóid Geraghty solicitor (defending ) argued that most of the charges his client faced were for the theft of wine.
However Garda Sgt Christy Brown (prosecuting ) challenged this assertion, pointing out that there were a number of burglary charges, and the theft of the bread van, to be taken into account along with the wine thefts.
Judge Faughnan wished Ms O’Brien well with her treatment and said he would review an account of how she was getting on at this week’s sitting of Ballinasloe District Court, again via video link.
