This article is from page 12 of the 2007-11-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
A WOMAN was heard telling her friends that she told “the f***ing judge her mother was dead” just min- utes after she left a courtroom, when, in fact her mother was still alive. The bizarre allegations were made in the case of a woman accused of stealing €99.84 worth of groceries from Dunnes Stores in Ennis in Oc-
tober.
Margaret McCarthy, of O’Halloran’s Lane, Ennis, appeared at Ennis Dis- trict Court on the shoplifting charge on November 9.
On that date she told the court that her mother had died. The case was then struck out by the prosecution, who took pity on her.
However, Inspector Michael Gal- lagher told the court last Friday that
the State has since established that her mother had not died and the case was re-entered.
In evidence to the court on Friday, Ms McCarthy said she had got a call from her sister in the UK before she went into the courtroom on the previ- ous date, telling her the bad news.
Inspector Gallagher said, “It’s one thing to lie but the lie 1s being com- pounded further today. You went out
the door skitting, laughing.”
Garda Doody then told the court that he had met Ms McCarthy three times before the court case and she had not mentioned anything about her mother passing away.
He said shortly after the case was struck out, he heard her saying, “I told the f***ing judge my mother is dead,” and she started laughing.
Gda Doody said her friends told
her to stop laughing as they saw him observing, but Ms McCarthy simply replied, “Let it be.”
Judge Joseph Mangan commended Garda Doody on his vigilance. He jailed Ms McCarthy for a month and fixed a bond in the event of an ap- peal.
He refused to substitute the one month jail sentence with a commu- nity service order.