Waterford 'professional shoplifter' sentenced to prison after targetting Tesco
The woman was sentenced to serve two and a half years in prison.
A Waterford woman has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for stealing €521 from Ardkeen Tesco.
Mary Ward (35), of Butterfield Court, Waterford, appeared via video link at Waterford Circuit Court before Judge Eugene O'Kelly.
The court heard that Ward had 62 previous convictions, 45 of which were for theft. Judge O'Kelly referred to Ward as a "professional shoplifter".
Ward was previously convicted by a jury trial for taking over €500 worth of goods from the Tesco outlet on May 27, 2023, along with her sister Ann Marie Ward.
At her sentencing hearing this week, Ward submitted a handwritten letter to Judge O'Kelly asking for "one last chance".
The letter described how she was sorry for her crime and was afraid to lose her home, where she lived with her three young children.
She wrote that she didn't "have much of a childhood" having to take care of her younger siblings growing up and had recently lost her father.
She wrote: "For the first time in my life I want to make myself and my kids proud. I won't let you down. I'll never get in trouble again."
Judge O'Kelly stressed that he could not suspend any of her sentence due to the "pre-meditated" nature of the offending, her "not guilty" plea during the trial and the numerous previous convictions for the same crime.
