Woman who stole nappies from supermarket fined

Margaret Stokes, of Ballyarnett Park, pleaded guilty to the theft of nappies worth £10 on April 20, last year.

The court heard that shortly after 8:30pm on the date in question a woman stole a large pack of nappies from Northside Shopping Centre.

Management contacted police and provided officers with CCTV footage of the theft.

The 24-years-old was identified as the person responsible and she was interviewed by police five days later.

Stokes made full admissions and told officers she was ‘very, very sorry’.

The court was told that the defendant does not have any relevant convictions and the most recent entry on her criminal record is from nine years ago.

Defence solicitor Seamus Quigley said his client was ‘not stealing to order or anything like that’.

He said Stokes had recently married and has a baby, he said this was the ‘cause of the offending’.

The solicitor urged the court to give the defendant credit for her full admissions and expression of remorse.

District Judge Barney McElholm fined Stokes £75 and imposed an offender levy of £15.

He also ordered the defendant to pay compensation of £10 to Northside Shopping Centre and granted a period of 16 weeks for all the money to be paid.