Mother of two admits she burgled Joan Burton home

A WOMAN has admitted burgling the home of former tánaiste Joan Burton while the Labour TD was giving a talk on crime prevention.

Mother-of-two Emma O’Callaghan, 43, was caught after gardaí received reports on Monday of a woman jumping over a wall into the back garden of Ms Burton’s home.

O’Callaghan was found inside the unoccupied house in Old Cabra Road, Dublin, the city’s District Court heard.

The judge asked if the house had been ransacked. A Garda sergeant said O’Callaghan ‘was going through the house at the time, she was in a room when caught’.

The burglar took Turkish and Polish banknotes worth the equivalent of €26, but they were recovered.

O’Callaghan, of no fixed address, appeared before Dublin District Court on Tuesday under the name of Elaine Waters and was refused bail.

Judge Brian O’Shea yesterday amended the charge to include the defendant’s correct name, Emma O’Callaghan, and noted from defence solicitor Stephen O’Mahony that a guilty plea was being entered to the burglary and another 21 charges.

The other charges included handling stolen goods, stealing charity boxes from shops, public order offences, begging, and an assault on a shop worker, for which she was given a nine-month sentence yesterday.

The accused, who was described as having a ‘chaotic’ life, had 63 prior convictions connected to her drug and drink addictions, the court heard yesterday.

O’Callaghan is to be sentenced separately for the burglary in three weeks’ time to allow gardaí to check if Ms Burton will provide a victim impact report to the court.