Stop the Press: Woman robs €15 shoes

chuky_r_law

Was looking at Irishindependent.ie. Second headline today (Sunday @ 00.41) was this:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/pensioner-with-very-poor-memory-attempted-to-exchange-penneys-shoes-for-cash-34451030.html

Pensioner with 'very poor memory' attempted to exchange Penneys shoes for cash

A pensioner who tried to exchange a pair of shoes for cash has claimed she has "a very poor memory" of the incident.


Doreen McManus (67) claimed she suffers from memory lapses and can't remember why she behaved in such a manner.

Judge David McHugh fined McManus €100.

The defendant, of Sallowood View, Santry Avenue in Ballymun, admitted before Blanchardstown District Court to making gain or causing loss by deception.

The incident took place at Penneys in Blanchardstown on July 18 last year.

Garda Brian Coughlan said McManus picked up a pair of shoes, worth €15, from a shelf and tried to exchange them at the till.

She was stopped by security staff and was arrested.

The court heard McManus has 13 previous convictions, but hasn't been in trouble since 2003.

Defence solicitor Terence Hanahoe said McManus is a separated woman with two grown-up children.

Care

Mr Hanahoe said she is in receipt of a pension and also helps to care for her brother who has special needs.

Mr Hanahoe said McManus doesn't know why she did what she did, saying she has "a very poor memory" of the day.

He also said McManus has been attending a doctor due to memory lapses concerns.

Mr Hanahoe asked the judge to be lenient, saying McManus hasn't been in trouble for a long time.




So this is the second biggest news story of the day on the irish independent website - first was the rugby. Am i missing something? Some woman getting fined for trying to con Pennys out of €15? Is it a slow news day or something? Last time i looked there was an election on and this is deemed more important???

Spanish Eyes

Lady had form.

But everyone deserves a second etc. chance. She got it. So what's the story now?

Azalea

Think it's just the courts section - I would be surprised if it made page one of the print version.
I don't understand why tiny little incidents like this make the court pages though. The headline makes it seem as though she just brought back a pair of shoes previously bought, too.

chuky_r_law

Azalea wrote: »

Think it's just the courts section - I would be surprised if it made page one of the print version.
I don't understand why tiny little incidents like this make the court pages though.

second story on the main page. it is part of the courts section, but where is the national interest? i can imagine it would get a mention in my local rag. probably buried somewhere in the middle of the paper.

but here is is ont he front page with a picture of this 'criminal'. unbelievable

squadro

Ah sure Gerald kean can defend her or maybe Barry Egan can give her fab shoes an auld mention.

buried

chuky_r_law wrote: »

Is it a slow news day or something? Last time i looked there was an election on and this is deemed more important???

That's exactly why this story is on the front of that rag. Anything to deflect away from the fact our political system is an utter bad joke

unkel

She had 13 previous convictions. Anyone convicted of a crime should have a chance to redeem themselves, get a suspended sentence and thus not go to prison. Anyone with 2 convictions should go to prison for a bit, with 3 convictions for a lot longer, and anybody with more than 3 convictions should remain in prison until they die.

Implement this system and you will see crime drop to near zero levels overnight...

chuky_r_law

unkel wrote: »

She had 13 previous convictions. Anyone convicted of a crime should have a chance to redeem themselves, get a suspended sentence and thus not go to prison. Anyone with 2 convictions should go to prison for a bit, with 3 convictions for a lot longer, and anybody with more than 3 convictions should remain in prison until they die.

Implement this system and you will see crime drop to near zero levels overnight...

haven't they inroduced this 3 strike rule elsewhere and it has done feck all to crime stats? and would you be happy seeing this woman in prison for life for trying to nick 15 quid. surely she, and the rest of the people convicted under this 3 strikes system you want to introduce, would be too much of a burden for the state to bear. where would they put them for instance? there isnt enough prison space in this country. and where would we put the water protesters and those who dont pay their tv licences? you haven't really thought this through

Azalea

unkel wrote: »

anybody with more than 3 convictions should remain in prison until they die.

Ah here. It should surely depend on what the convictions are for also.

It was 12 or 13 years since her last conviction and she was attending a doctor for occurrences of memory loss. I'm not saying she is an angel but I think this deserves consideration of the mitigating circumstances.

Poor Uncle Tom

squadro wrote: »

Ah sure Gerald kean can defend her or maybe Barry Egan can give her fab shoes an auld mention.

The bitterness is eyewatering in this one, Ted...

mynameis905

unkel wrote: »

She had 13 previous convictions. Anyone convicted of a crime should have a chance to redeem themselves, get a suspended sentence and thus not go to prison. Anyone with 2 convictions should go to prison for a bit, with 3 convictions for a lot longer, and anybody with more than 3 convictions should remain in prison until they die.

Implement this system and you will see crime drop to near zero levels overnight...

Nope.

That 'three strikes then life' sentencing has been around for ages in parts of the US and is widely considered an utter failure.

Hammer89

I wouldn't try to con Penneys. She obviously bit off more than she could shoe.

realdanbreen

squadro wrote: »

Ah sure Gerald kean can defend her or maybe Barry Egan can give her fab shoes an auld mention.

Ray D'Arcy might give her a mention in between boasting about his daughter,his father and his wife,Jenny !

Junkyard Tom

unkel wrote: »

Implement this system and you will see crime drop to near zero levels overnight...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3y3QoFnqZc

dr.fuzzenstein

unkel wrote: »

She had 13 previous convictions. Anyone convicted of a crime should have a chance to redeem themselves, get a suspended sentence and thus not go to prison. Anyone with 2 convictions should go to prison for a bit, with 3 convictions for a lot longer, and anybody with more than 3 convictions should remain in prison until they die.

Implement this system and you will see crime drop to near zero levels overnight...

Yes, that didn't result in the US having the highest prison population per capita by a massive margin at all.