Courts / Dublin / Report

Homeless couple lifted €7.5k in clothing from River Island

Date
2020-03-10
Stage
Sentence
Primary locality
Dublin
County
Dublin

Summary

A homeless couple, Keelin Doyle (29) and Liam Dowds (38), stole €7,595 worth of clothing from River Island on Dublin's Grafton Street over four weeks in 2019. They carried out eight separate shop‑lifting incidents, walking into the store, lifting merchandise and leaving without paying, without disguising themselves or threatening staff. Doyle faced seven charges and Dowds faced eight, all from August and September 2019. Both pleaded guilty. Doyle was sentenced by Judge Melanie Greally to 18 months' imprisonment with the final six months suspended; Dowds received 15 months' imprisonment with the final six months suspended. The court noted the couple's drug addiction as a motivating factor and highlighted the significant loss to the retailer. Both were remanded in custody since their arrest and have shown improvement while in custody.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Homeless couple lifted €7.5k in clothing from River Island. Charges or matters: eight charges of shoplifting on dates between August 19, 2019 and September 13, 2019. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

Why: A homeless couple who together stole a total of €7,595 of stock from a clothing store in order to feed their drug addiction have received partially suspended sentence. CNI source report

Case subjects

Liam Dowds

Defendant

Charges: eight charges of shoplifting on dates between August 19, 2019 and September 13, 2019 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Judge Melanie Greally sentenced Doyle to 18 months in prison with the final six months suspended, while she sentenced Dowds to 15 months with the final six months having taken into account the fact that he has less convictions.; Gda Keane also accepted that the couple have been remanded in custody since their arrest and both look better today than they did in September last year.

Places mentioned

Address Area
  • Dublin's Grafton Street
Court Venue
  • Dublin
  • Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
Secondary Mention

Topics

Drugs Stage Sentence

Related court reports

Read the original CNI report

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