Young mum left Tesco with €430 worth of unpaid items

Attempting to walk out of a supermarket late at night with bags full of €432 worth of unpaid items was so blatant it was almost asking to be caught.

That was the scenario painted by the solicitor of a young mother charged with theft at Tesco on August 11 this year at Cork District Court yesterday.

Insp Mary King told the court Nora McDonagh, aged 22, of Brocklesby Street, Blackpool, collected €432 worth of groceries at Tesco in Mahon Point yet walked past all the tills to exit the premises without paying. She was soon apprehended and admitted the theft under caution from gardaí. Insp King said she had five previous convictions.

Judge Con O’Leary said it was concerning because €400 was a lot of groceries and that she had not seemed deterred by previous penalties. He said if the balance of goods was balanced against the penalties, she was getting away with it. He said he was leaning towards a prison sentence.

Solicitor Frank Buttimer said his client was a mother of two children that had come to Cork from Waterford to escape a family situation. She suffered from depression and had two younger brothers die by suicide. She had been taking two certain medications that may have masked inhibitions about what she did on the night in question. He said it didn’t excuse his client but it may explain her actions.

Judge O’Leary said he accepted that taking the medications may have altered her mindset, and made her much more inclined to do so.

Judge O’Leary said her record was a problem as she had broken the law even after engaging with probation services previously. He said he would expect to impose a custodial sentence but would not do so until after Christmas so as not to affect the children. He ordered a probation report for December 16.