Woman spared jail for stealing hairdryer from Cork hotel

Clonakilty court hears when the item was discovered in her luggage the accused also had a grinder with traces of cannabis 

The judge said if the accused was going to visit a hotel it was to go and enjoy it and 'leave it all behind  — particularly the hairdryer.' Picture: iStock

A woman has received a suspended jail sentence for stealing a hairdryer from a hotel.

Skye Moran, aged 27, and with an address at 1 An Fuiseoige, Spring Lane in Blackpool,  Cork city,  stole the hairdryer from the Clonakilty Park Hotel in February of last year. Clonakilty District Court heard that when the item was discovered in her luggage she was also in possession of a grinder that contained traces of cannabis.

She had also failed to produce a certificate of insurance for her car.

Her solicitor, Plunkett Taaffe, told Judge James McNulty his client had previously paid insurance on her own car, which was in a garage at the time of this offence, and had omitted to transfer the insurance to the vehicle she was driving.

Mr Taaffe said Moran had a difficult life and that she had assured him that since these offences she had reformed.

"She is doing the best she can with limited resources," he said, adding that since her car was on finance she was returning it but would still be left with the residual debt on the payments.

The judge said the explanation given by Moran that she did not realise the hairdryer was in her luggage was "not credible"
Judge McNulty commented that  Moran had a previous conviction for driving with no insurance and had been disqualified for a time from the road in 2016.

"Having come to the Clonakilty Park Hotel in February last year with her 10-year-old child she left with the hotel hairdryer and when [her luggage] was searched they found cannabis and a grinder," he said.

"The court appreciates how tough it is for lone parents," he said, adding that he did not want to add to her financial burden.

He said if she was going to visit a hotel it was to go and enjoy it and "leave it all behind  — particularly the hairdryer".

He said the explanation given by Moran that she did not realise the hairdryer was in her luggage was "not credible".

A probation report was handed into court after she had previously entered guilty pleas to the charges.

The court heard she had 42 previous convictions including 23 for theft, but Mr Taaffe stressed that Moran had been taking steps to improve her life, including maintaining sobriety.

Judge McNulty imposed a six-month jail sentence for the theft charge but suspended it for two years on her own bond of €100, no cash required.

There was a mandatory disqualification for driving with no insurance and he fined her €100, 90 days to pay. The judge struck out the cannabis possession charge.