Mother-of-two stole Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses from Dublin Airport store
Dublin Airport Terminal 1, where the theft took place. Photo: Steve Humphreys
A mother-of-two who stole a pair of designer sunglasses at Dublin Airport had them in her suitcase when gardaí stopped her.
A court heard Edel Walsh, 41, made a “spontaneous decision” to steal the €225 glasses while she was at the airport.
Judge Treasa Kelly fined her €200.
Walsh, of Carton Court, Poppintree, Ballymun, pleaded guilty to stealing a pair of Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses in the incident.
Garda Kieran McQuaid told Dublin District Court that he was called to a reported theft at the Sunglass Hut in Terminal 1 on September 19 this year.
He was told that a woman in a purple tracksuit had put her sunglasses in her pocket and left without paying. Minutes later, Gda McQuaid said, he found Walsh sitting in a bar in the terminal and when questioned, she opened her suitcase and handed him the sunglasses, saying she had forgotten to pay for them.
She was arrested and did not respond to the charges. Walsh had already been convicted of theft.
The defendant made a “spontaneous decision” at the airport and was cooperative during the arrest, said her lawyer Michael French.
Walsh was receiving disability benefit and raising her children alone, which was “quite a challenge for her”, Mr French said.
She deeply regrets the theft, he added, and asked the judge for leniency.
Judge Kelly said although Walsh told gardaí she had forgotten to pay for the sunglasses, she was seen putting them in her bag and then putting them in her suitcase.
The DPP agreed to have the case heard in the District Court.
Judge Kelly, after hearing the evidence, accepted jurisdiction and sentenced the defendant and fined him.
