Margaret Connors admits handling stolen handbags in Dublin

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Margaret Connors pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to handling stolen property at a city centre shop on 28 May 2019. The proceedings were reported on 10 June 2021.

The handbags, worth around €11,000, were taken in a burglary in Co Wicklow and later found for sale in a Dublin shop. Garda Marguerite O’Reilly said CCTV showed Connors presenting the handbags to the shop owner, who examined them and handed her cash.

Garda O’Reilly said Connors told gardaí she had bought the items from someone at her home in Tallaght and identified herself in the shop footage. Defence counsel Kieran Kelly put it to the garda that Connors had answered questions and engaged with gardaí; Garda O’Reilly confirmed that these had been of “probative value”.

The report said Connors had 12 previous convictions. Judge Karen O’Connor directed that a probation report be prepared and adjourned sentencing to 8 October.