Thief drove off with shop security officer on bonnet of her car

By Claire Henry

A woman who stole clothes from Dundrum Town Centre and then attempted to drive off with a security officer holding onto the bonnet of her car has been given a suspended sentence.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Carley Hopkins (35) of North Great Clarence Street, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to one count of endangerment, one count of theft and one count of production of an article in the form of a tin foil-lined shopping bag on February 12, 2023, at Dundrum Town Centre.

She has no previous convictions.

Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Patricia Codd said, “Any security member is entitled to go out and do their work without the fear of endangerment.”

Judge Codd said the tinfoil-lined shopping bag showed premeditation, and she considered this an aggravating factor along with Hopkins’s attempts to evade the security officers.

The judge said the mitigating factors in this case were the letters handed into the court on behalf of Hopkins, the admissions she made at the scene and her apology.

Judge Codd also said that Hopkins comes before the court with no previous convictions, which is a significant factor.

Judge Codd sentenced Hopkins to two and a half years in prison on the endangerment count and eighteen months on the theft count, both of which are to run concurrently.

She then suspended the sentence in full for three years.

She took the production of an article charge into account.

 A token of remorse of €1000 was brought to court by Hopkins for the injured party in this case.

Judge Codd said that if the security guard does not wish to accept the token, it should be donated to the St Vincent De Paul charity.

Garda Shane O’Connor told Simon Matthew, BL, prosecuting, that on the day in question, he and a colleague received a call from security guards in the Dundrum Town Centre.

He said Hopkins entered H&M clothing in the shopping centre and had a tinfoil-lined shopping bag with her.

She left the shop a short time later with €246 worth of clothing.

Gda O’Connor said, security guards followed Hopkins to the underground car park and approached her when she was at her car.

As the security guards were speaking with Hopkins, she started to drive off. One security guard held onto the car’s bonnet from when Hopkins exited her parking space until she reached the barrier.

She was then blocked in by other cars until the gardai arrived.

The court heard that Hopkins made admissions while at the scene and during her garda interview. She also expressed remorse and apologised for her actions.

Gda O’Connor agreed with Simon Donagh, BL, defending, that the plea to endangerment was entered on her trial date, but still of value to the gardai.

She also agreed that the security officer did not require any medical attention and had not made a victim impact statement.

The garda agreed with counsel that Hopkins handed over the keys to her car to the gardai at the scene and during her interview stated that when she saw the five security officers, she panicked and drove off.

Mr Donagh said his client is a part-time cleaner and suffers from mental health difficulties. He also outlined that she cares for her mother and cousin and is a single parent to a teenage child.

Counsel said, “It was an incredibly dangerous act, but she did provide context in that he was scared when confronted by the security guards.”

He said she has worked all her life since she was sixteen and has brought €1000 to court for the security guard as a token of remorse.

He asked the court to deal with her as leniently as possible and to pay particular regard to her lack of previous convictions, that she has not come to any garda attention since, her guilty pleas and the token of remorse that she brought to court.