Serial Louth shoplifter described as ‘plague on businesses’ avoids prison
The Drogheda IndependentA 31-year-old woman who admitted thefts at several shops in Co. Louth has been described as a “pest” and a “plague on businesses” when she appeared before the district court.
Nora McDonagh was told that she should be going to prison “in the teeth of her appalling record” but Judge Nicola Andrews instead gave her the maximum amount of community service.
The defendant, from Dundalk, but with an address at Rathmullen Park, Drogheda, for much of the offending, has 118 previous convictions.
In addition to shoplifting, she also pleaded guilty to uninsured driving while disqualified.
Evidence was heard about thefts from shops in Dundalk and Drogheda throughout 2023 and 2024, the goods valued in amounts between €24 and €334.
On April 25, 2024, at Castletown Road, Dundalk, Ms McDonagh drove without insurance. Gardaí seized the vehicle. She was subject to a 10-year disqualification at the time.
Of 118 previous convictions, 51 were under the Road Traffic Act.
Solicitor Fergal Boyle said that his client was “an absolute pest” and her record “just appalling”.
These thefts were to feed a drugs habit. She had completed drugs treatment.
She had only recently secured her own council house which had provided some stability.
Mr Boyle continued that Ms McDonagh found her father passed away in August.
Judge Andrews imposed 240 hours community service in lieu of 10 months imprisonment on one of the Section 4 theft charges.
Ms McDonagh was told to stay off West Street in Drogheda and out of the shops she stole from.
For uninsured driving, she received a six-month sentence, suspended for two years, on condition that she attended the Probation Service. A 10-year disqualification was handed down.
The judge said that “in the teeth of her appalling record” the defendant should be going to jail. She was a “plague on businesses”.
Judge Andrews warned Nora McDonagh that if she re-offended, “I will send you out of here in a prison van.”