Search for missing girl led mums to shoplift while in Dublin
THREE mothers came to Dublin to search for a missing child, but turned to shoplifting when the cost of staying in the capital became too expensive for them, a court heard.
Bridget Ryan (38), Eileen Ryan (32) and Frances Troy (29), travelled to Dublin from Waterford when one of their daughters ran away from home.
The girl was eventually found safe, but the three women were arrested for stealing €183 worth of clothes from a shop during their stay.
Bridget and Eileen Ryan, both of Lismore Park, and Troy, of Ardmore Terrace, all in Waterford city, pleaded guilty to one count of theft each.
They admitted stealing assorted womens' clothing worth €189 from New Look, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre on June 6.
Judge David McHugh fined Troy €50 and the other two accused €150 each.
Sgt Mary Doherty said the three defendants took the goods and were stopped by security. Bridget and Eileen Ryan each had eight previous convictions, while Troy had none.
The defendants had travelled to Dublin because the daughter of one of the three had gone missing, their solicitor Fiona Brennan said.
Bridget Ryan was a mother-of-seven, Eileen Ryan was a mother-of-four and Troy had three children.
Each of the accused was in "particularly straitened circumstances" and the "cost of the unexpected trip to Dublin and having to stay there was particularly difficult for them", Ms Brennan explained.
They stole the goods out of "financial necessity".
Judge McHugh noted that the two Ryans were "no strangers to theft".
Ms Brennan asked Judge McHugh to take into consideration the fact that the defendants had pleaded guilty as quickly as possible, and that they had serious family responsibilities.