‘Temptation’ got the better of woman who found money on supermarket floor

TEMPTATION got the better of a woman who found €170 in an envelope on the floor of the Aldi supermarket in Listowel, but only after she had made attempts at the scene to find out who owned it.

That’s what Judge David Waters was told in the case of Pauline O’Sullivan, The Cashen, Ballyduff, when she appeared before him at Listowel District Court on Thursday, pleading guilty to a charge of theft.

The court heard that the injured party had dropped her wage envelope containing €170 while shopping in Aldi on February 22 last. On examining CCTV footage of the store, gardaí said they ‘observed a lady looking into it... and leaving the store.” Ms O’Sullivan was identified as the woman taking the envelope.

Her solicitor, Pat Enright, explained that she had made efforts to identify the owner of the envelope: “In fairness to her on the day, when she realised what she had, she made considerable efforts and asked people nearby if it was theirs. When they said ‘no’ she brought it home where she kept it intact,” Mr Enright explained.

However, a family emergency – unspecified in court – arose and ‘temptation unfortunately’ got the better of her, as a result. “When the gardaí arrived she made admissions, without which this case could have gone nowhere,” Mr Enright said, asking the Judge for leniency. Ms O’Sullivan had no previous convictions.

Judge Waters applied the Probation Act, allowing Ms O’Sullivan to escape conviction. “That’s what it [the Act] is there for,” the Judge remarked.