By Eimear Dodd
A woman who stole €6,500 from her employer Tesco in a “despicable breach of trust” has been handed a suspended prison sentence.
Anne Marie Forrester (37) pleaded guilty to four counts of theft between May 9 and May 20, 2018 at the Tesco supermarket on Talbot Street, Dublin 1.
Forrester, of Patrick Heaney Crescent, Glouster Place, Dublin 1 on Friday (12th) was given a prison sentence of two and a half years, suspended in full for three years on strict conditions.
Judge Ronan Munro ordered Forrester to collect the sum of €7,000 over the next 18 months and pay it to the investigating garda for onward transmission to Tesco.
Judge Munro said the court recognised that for someone in her position, saving €7,000 is a “significant punishment” and would be a reminder of her offending.
“What you did was a despicable breach of trust and you are going to have to pay for what you did,” the judge added.
Detective Garda PJ Gallagher told Jane McCudden BL, prosecuting, that Tesco management made a formal complaint in September 2018 after an internal review was completed.
The court was told that cash was transferred from the shop floor to the cash office using a cash pod system, where each pod contained €500.
On May 22, 2018, Tesco employees became aware of an anomaly when the cash, which had been stored in the safe, was being transferred.
A total of 13 cash drops amounting to €6,500 were unaccounted for.
During Tesco’s internal review, it emerged that Forrester was present in the office for each of the 13 cash drops.
Forrester’s role gave her access and control over large sums of cash on a daily basis, the court heard.
She was also present during the process of counting on May 22.
Ms McCudden said the prosecution case is that Forrester stole individual bags of €500 at points when she should have been putting them in the safe.
Forrester went on planned annual leave after May 22, then submitted a sick note and was not in work over the following seven weeks.
There were two welfare meetings during this seven-week period, after which Forrester handed in her notice, citing stress and anxiety.
Forrester was interviewed twice on a voluntary basis during the garda investigation.
She made no admissions and denied any involvement in wrongdoing but did identify her signature on dockets.
The money has not been repaid. Forrester pleaded guilty several days before her third trial date, the court heard.
She has previous convictions and she received the benefit of the Probation Act for theft.
The court was told this offence took place on August 27, 2018 at Iceland on Talbot Street where Forrester worked for one week.
Over €8,000 was taken from a safe in the store and Forrester was identified on CCTV placing cash in her bag and leaving the premises.
Her home was searched the next day and €6,400 was recovered.
Det Gda Gallagher agreed with Aoife O’Leary BL, defending, that her client has not come to garda attention since 2018.
Forrester has engaged with MABS to address €23,000 in rental arrears owed to Dublin City Council and is making weekly repayments to reduce this debt.
She is a carer for her mother, who is extremely unwell, and works 18 hours a week.
A letter was handed to the court from her employer, who is aware of the situation.
Ms O’Leary told the court her client was facing personal difficulties at the time of her offending and also suffering with mental health issues.
She started to abuse cocaine, and made an “extremely foolish error of judgement”.
Counsel said Forrester wishes to repay the money, but her home was flooded and she had to use the money saved to cover the cost of repairs.
Forrester has two teenage children and her partner was in court to support her.
Ms O’Leary said her client has not come to garda attention over the last eight years and has “faced up to the chaos she caused”.
Forrester took the stand and outlined her background and current circumstances. She said she has not used cocaine in several years and accepted that she had earlier opportunities to deal with this.
She told Judge Munro that she would set up a credit union account and put money away to repay Tesco, asking for one year to do so.
Imposing sentence, Judge Munro noted Forrester went on to steal from another employer several months after this incident, for which she has already been punished, which was aggravating.
He said there was not an early plea in the case, noting that the court acknowledged that it appeared that Forrester was “under a lot of pressure”.
He said stealing from an employer has to be deterred and while this was a smaller amount than in other cases, it was still “considerable”.
Judge Munro noted that Forrester has faced a lot of adversity in life, but others who face similar issues do not offend.
He said it was significant that she has not come to negative attention in eight years.