A Donegal judge has said she is “appalled” by the actions of a woman who is accused of stealing items from a number of shops and using children to help her in the endeavour.
31-year-old Katelyn Reilly appeared before Ms. Justice Eiteain Cunningham at Letterkenny District Court charged with stealing items from Lidl and Dealz stores.
Donegal Daily reported that Reilly stands accused of stealing goods including an Under Armour backpack and easter egg gifts to the value of €80 from LIDL on Pearse Road in Letterkenny on March 21st last.
The court heard evidence from Garda Sergeant Jim Collins that CCTV footage captured Reilly getting a child to hide the goods in a pram before the child pushed the pram out of the shop.
Reilly is also charged in relation to the theft of items of clothing to the value of €100 from Dunnes Stores at Letterkenny Retail Park on May 11th last.
Sergeant Collins gave evidence that on this occasion the accused was seen filling a bag with the clothing before passing it off to a child who carried it from the shop.
Defence for the accused Mr Patsy Gallagher argued that Reilly had been suffering from mental health issues at the time of the offences and had offered a plea of guilty at the first opportunity.
Judge Cunningham said that there was no doubt that the use of minors in the thefts aggravated that offences saying, ““I’m just appalled by it and it is a very serious matter when a minor is asked to do something that is criminal.”
The Judge questioned what kind of “example” Reilly’s behaviour set for the children.
The case was adjourned until the 27th of January to allow for the preparation of a probation report with Judge Cunningham saying, “I’m not impressed”.