Woman who stole black ties from Penneys for mother's funeral spared jail

Judge said the circumstances around the theft 'had a certain poignancy to them'

Helena Keenan Joyce carried out the theft one day after her mother, Biddy Keenan, died. File picture: Andy Gibson.

A judge has spared an Ennis woman jail time after commenting that the circumstances around her theft from Penney’s of four black ties for family members for her mother’s funeral "had a certain poignancy to them".

At Ennis District Court on Wednesday, Helena Keenan Joyce, aged 28, avoided jail after Judge Sandra Murphy imposed a two-month suspended prison term for the theft from Penneys in Ennis in December 2019.