Woman who stole large amount of beauty products to feed a drug addiction is jailed

By Sonya McLean

A woman who stole beauty products from the same two shops eight times in order to a feed drug addiction has been jailed for two and half years.

Suzanne Shannon (40) of Avondale House, Northumberland Street, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to eight separate thefts from two Boots in Rathmines and Donnybrook in Dublin on dates between January and April 2024.

Shannon has 83 previous convictions, mostly for theft but also for a drug dealing offence that was dealt with two years ago.

The court heard that she deliberately targeted these premises as she knew there was no security guard in the shop.

Garda Stephen Walsh said he responded to a panic alarm from Boots, Rathmines on April 19, 2024 in relation to a woman leaving the shop without paying for a large number of products.

He was given a description of the thief who had fled on a bike and he spotted Shannon a few minutes later.

He arrested her and she made immediate admissions showing Gda Walsh the products she had stolen.

She told the garda that she wanted to go into custody. She was taken in for questioning and continued to made full admissions.

She said she was going to sell on the cosmetics she had stolen in order to feed her drug addiction.

Gda Walsh said that while Shannon was detained in relation to this theft, she was nominated as a suspect in the other thefts.

She again made full admissions.

The garda accepted that this was effectively “a cry for help” and Shannon was happy she was caught.

Gda Walsh said the thefts were all of cosmetics and various beauty products that ranged in value from €500 to €1,000.

A victim impact statement from the manager of both Boots shops said that the staff were so used to Shannon stealing items from the shop that they expected to see her most days.

They were apprehensive as they found the woman aggressive and were afraid to approach her.

The manager praised the assistance of the gardaí in Rathmines in helping them to catch Shannon and put a stop to her thefts.

Judge Orla Crowe said the staff in the shop were apprehensive.

“They knew who she was and they knew what they were facing”.

She acknowledged that Shannon would sell on the goods for as little as €100 on products that cost €1,000.

Judge Crowe heard that Shannon was not objecting to a previously partially suspended sentence for a drug dealing offence being re-activated as these thefts were carried out on the suspended portion of that sentence.

The drug offence was dealt with in July 2022 when Shannon was handed a two and a half year term with the final six months suspended.

She had pleaded guilty to be in possession of heroin with an estimated street value of €69,608, at her home on June 23, 2017.

Yesterday, Judge Crowe re-activated that six month term.

She imposed a consecutive term of two years and three months for the theft offences before she suspended the final three months of the sentence on strict conditions.

“She needs a structure in place – particularly in regard to her drug addiction,” Judge Crowe said.

She ordered that Shannon must engage with the Probation Service for one year upon her final release from custody.

Judge Crowe said she hopes that Shannon will “re-enter society in a structured way in the hope that she will not re-offend in the future”.

Emmet Nolan BL defending, said his client was a very vulnerable individual, who had engaged with support services and hopes to continue to deal with her addiction.