13 months’ jail for 'career shoplifter'

Woman was ‘going around the country stealing’

A WOMAN, described by the judge as a “career shoplifter”, was given jail sentences totalling 13 months when she admitted stealing goods worth over €700 from local retail outlets at a recent sitting of Monaghan District Court.

Lisa Mongan with an address at Cashel Park, Lisnenan, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, pleaded guilty to stealing items from Boots Pharmacy at Monaghan Shopping Centre and from Lidl, North Road, Monaghan Town, on October 23 last.

The 37-year-old also accepted that she failed to appear at Monaghan District Court on those matters on March 25 gone by.

Inspector Declan McGarvey said the defendant took five bottles of perfume, valued at €559, from Boots Pharmacy without making payment. An hour later she went to Lidl, Monaghan, where she filled a trolley with items worth €143 and again left without paying.

It was accepted that €120 worth of the Lidl goods were returned to the store in a saleable condition when Ms Mongan was apprehended later that day. It also transpired that four of the five Boots perfume bottles were also saleable when returned.

186 previous convictions

Inspector McGarvey said the defendant had 186 previous convictions, most of which were for thefts, including two in June 2024 for which she received five months’ imprisonment.

Paul Boyce, solicitor, said his client was receiving social welfare benefits of €330 per week and had three dependent children aged 18, 13 and 10.

Her husband had been admitted for rehab services on the day before this court hearing.

Describing Ms Mongan as a career shoplifter, Judge Raymond Finnegan noted that some of her previous convictions were in places ranging from Letterkenny to Roscommon, and commented that it appeared she was “going around the country stealing”.

It was people like her that made shopping all the more expensive for the normal person who went out and got a job, he remarked, adding that the only way he could deal with this was by way of a prison sentence in the hope that it might act as some sort of deterrent.

For the theft at Lidl the judge thereby imposed five months in prison, with a consecutive five months handed down for the offence at Boots Pharmacy.

He added a further three months for the failure to appear at court, citing her history of numerous bench warrants (50 in total) as the reason for this.

“That’s a total of 13 months from today,” Judge Finnegan clarified.

Recognisances were fixed for appeal.