Judge grants two young women bail ‘with hesitance’

TWO YOUNG women charged with theft had bail granted despite garda objections last Thursday at Bray District Court.

Both girls are aged 18 and live in the Bray area. They cannot be named at this time for legal reasons.

The women were arrested in connection with an alleged theft at a Greystones pharmacy last Tuesday, where it was claimed property worth over €80 was taken.

Gardaí told the court that they identified the suspects by viewing CCTV footage and recovered goods from one of the suspects but not the other.

The women were on bail at the time, as they face allegations of five counts of theft from pharmacies amounting to thousands of euros worth of goods. The court heard that their bail conditions included that they stay out of Greystones and other areas and observe a curfew.

Last Thursday, gardaí objected to bail, saying that the women had breached their bail conditions.

In the case of the first woman, her solicitor said that she had ‘ burst on the scene’, only coming to police attention in the past three months. He said that she had been taking tablets and was ‘out of her head’ at the time of the most recent incident.

‘I was mystified myself at the fact she was suddenly coming to attention in such a short period,’ he said. ‘She realises she has to stop taking tablets.’

The court heard that the second woman replied after caution ‘I’m sorry lads, can you let me go home now?’

The item she stole was not recovered. Neither woman has any previous convictions, the court was told.

Judge Bernadette Owens said that she would grant bail ‘with some degree of hesitance’. She said that she had observed their demeanour during proceedings last Thursday, after spending a night in custody, and believes they are now taking matters more seriously.

She added further conditions to their bail, including that they abstain from all illicit drugs and do not associate with each other.