A 39-year-old mother of three has been jailed for a year for stealing six designer jackets worth more than €12,500 from Brown Thomas in the run-up to Christmas 2024.
Her daughter was given a suspended sentence for the offence, which also involved three other people.
Cathriona Joyce and Caitlin Joyce (21) of St Brigid’s Lawn, Porterstown in Dublin were before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday, where they pleaded guilty to stealing the jackets worth €12,615 from the department store on December 14th, 2024.
Garda Shane Quinn told the court the two women were seen on CCTV acting suspiciously on the same day the jackets went missing.
He said three females and two males entered, loitered, and were surveilled. The females put the designer jackets under their own jackets and walked out of the door, while the males carried the other jackets out under their arms.
Searches were carried out of the Joyce women’s homes at St Brigid’s Lawn, and three of the jackets were found. Quinn said one was found under a Christmas tree in the livingroom of Cathriona Joyce’s caravan, while two were found in the bedroom of her daughter’s caravan, which was in the same bay.
He said that, four days later, Cathriona Joyce handed “a black plastic bag containing three more Moncler jackets” in to gardaí. They were returned in good condition, with the Brown Thomas labels and security tags still attached, and could be sold.
Quinn agreed with the younger woman’s barrister that if these had been Penneys jackets, the case would have been heard in the District Court. He also agreed that Caitlin Joyce had no previous convictions and had engaged with Blanchardstown Traveller Development Group and in healthcare work, which would require Garda vetting in the future.
Counsel said Caitlin Joyce had had difficulties at home, and had been caring for her grandmother who had suffered a stroke.
Cathriona Joyce’s barrister said his client had problems with her heart and back, and had undergone surgery and a biopsy last week.
She also suffered from anxiety and depression, and had lost her mother 11 months ago. She now cared for her father, who suffered from dementia.
Judge Martin Nolan noted she had previously received the benefit of suspended sentences from various courts for similar convictions in the past. He jailed her for one year.
Nolan noted that her daughter had no previous convictions and was trying to improve herself. He sentenced her to one year in prison, suspended on condition she work with the Probation Service.