This article is from page 20 of the 2013-07-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
A District Court Judge told a sitting in Kilrush he was sending a clear message that robbery of old ladies and young children would not be tolerated.
Judge Patrick Durcan made the comments as he handed down a suspended one-month sentence to an 18year-old Kilrush woman who robbed an elderly woman’s purse at the train station in Ennis. He also told her he would send her to prison the next time she appeared before him.
She was 17 years old at the time of the theft on January 26 this year and pleaded guilty to the theft at Kilrush District Court on Tuesday.
The teenager also pleaded guilty to public order offences and using threatening behaviour in the Market Square, Kilrush on November 26, 2012.
Judge Durcan fined her € 100 for the public order offence.
The court heard that on November 26 the girl was found fighting with another person in the Square and was using threatening behaviour.
The court also heard that on January 26, a woman in her 70s had her purse stolen in what was described by the defending solicitor as “an opportunistic crime”.
When gardaí arrested the young woman before the court she told them she had thrown the purse over a wall.
The purse was recovered but € 100 cash was missing from it.
Solicitor Fiona Hehir said her client is taking medication and is “in a better condition now than she was then”.
She added that she did not remember the incident in the Square.
Following sentencing Judge Durcan said it as obvious to him from observing the young woman in court that she had attitude problems.
“If there isn’t a change in attitude to me, the gardaí and the law you will be in prison next time you appear before me,” he said.