Portlaoise Courthouse

A young woman was ordered to stay out of Portlaoise except to attend court, when she appeared at the local district court recently.

The court heard that on 17 July 2021 the then 17-year-old went into Boots Pharmacy in Laois Shopping Centre, Portlaoise and stole €951 worth of cosmetics. She went into the same store on 27 January this year and took cosmetics and clothing worth €1,043.98.

She pleaded guilty to both offences.

Garda Sergeant JJ Kirby said that on the first occasion only one product was recovered, which was valued at €97. He said that while all the items in the second incident were recovered, none were in a resaleable state because all the packaging had been removed. He said that the defendant had no previous convictions.

Defending solicitor Aonghus McCarthy said that on the first occasion, his 19-year-old client was a minor and was keeping poor company at the time. He said she had been with others when the incident occurred and was the only person who was identified.

Judge Andrew Cody granted bail to the accused until the next hearing of the case on 6 July on condition she remains of sober habits, stays out of the town of Portlaoise except to attend court hearings and continues working with the probation services.

*Names of defendants in Portlaoise District Court cases are printed in the Laois Nationalist newspaper that is available in your local shop or in our online edition here.