Woman jailed for role in stealing purse

By Claire Henry

A woman who was involved in stealing a purse has been handed a six-month prison sentence.

Karen Meehan (40), previously of Croftwood Gardens, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, pleaded guilty to stealing at the Four Courts Luas stop on February 8, 2023. She has three previous convictions.

A local garda told Edward O’Mahoney BL, prosecuting, that on the night in question, a woman presented to Store Street Garda station and said her purse and its contents had been stolen.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the woman was on the Luas when she dropped her purse, which Meehan’s co-accused then picked up. Meehan refused to give the purse back to the woman, and a “scuffle” occurred.

Gardai arrested Meehan and her co-accused a short time later and found them in possession of the injured party’s purse, which contained cards with her name on them. Meehan was unable to be interviewed upon arrest as she was intoxicated.

The court heard that Meehan has taken two bench warrants in this case but did enter an early guilty plea. No victim impact statement was available to the court.

The garda agreed with Luigi Rea BL, defending that his client has had addiction issues from a young age and has never recovered from the tragic death of her sister and then the passing of her mother.

He also agreed that, at the time of this offence, Meehan was intoxicated and was not deemed fit to be interviewed for a number of hours after her arrest.

Mr Rea told the court that his client is currently under drug rehabilitation supervision and is doing well. He asked the court to take into account her early guilty plea and be as lenient as possible.

Judge Martin Nolan said that Meehan does have a record of conviction, but it is quite low. He said this defendant has entered an early guilty plea, which he would take into account.

He sentenced Meehan to six months in prison, which he backdated to August of this year when she went into custody on this matter.