Woman stole €21,000 of clothes to feed habit

A saleswoman who stole more than €21,000 from a French Connection clothes store to fund her cocaine habit has been given a two-year suspended sentence by Judge Desmond Hogan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Alyson Conway, aged 24, with a former address at St Michael’s Terrace, Ennis Road, Limerick pleaded guilty to 11 sample counts of larceny from Fcuk Ltd at the Powerscourt Shopping Centre, where she worked as a sales assistant.

Bernard McCabe BL, defending, told Judge Hogan that his client was undergoing counselling in England.

Judge Hogan noted she had borrowed money to compensate the store and suspended the two-year sentence on condition that she keep the peace.

Sergeant Brian Duffy told Ms Marie Torrens BL, prosecuting, that Conway had worked at the store from 1999 until she was dismissed in March 2003.

Sgt Duffy said the store manager, Fiona Kavanagh, was "cashing up" on March 14, 2003 when she noticed that the last transactions were cash refunds for two jackets.

She noted there were no original transaction numbers and the transactions had occurred after the store was closed.

Ms Kavanagh contacted Conway who admitted stealing €470. She later carried out an audit and discovered a total of 96 irregularities dating back to June 2002.

Conway was arrested and admitted that she had initially started taking money "the odd time" before it became a habit and she did so on an almost daily basis.

Sgt Duffy said that the thefts began when Conway broke up with her long term boyfriend during her final exams.

He said she had a cocaine habit and the money was used to fund that lifestyle. She had no previous convictions.

Mr McCabe told Judge Hogan at a previous hearing that she had co-operated with gardai and had paid back all of the money by taking out a loan.

He said she realised her error and was attempting to mend her ways. She had now qualified from her marketing degree for which she was studying at the time.