Baby left in jeep alone while mother goes shoplifting

A woman in Letterkenny who fled the scene of a shoplifting incident while her three-month-old baby was in the jeep has appeared in court.

By Declan Whooley

The Donegal Daily has reported that Margaret Doherty appeared on a series of theft charges after eight bench warrants had been issued to the woman over the past six years.

The mother-of-five went on a six-week robbing spree in 2005, stealing computer games, clothes, groceries and a golf buggy and the following year was caught stealing €161 worth of groceries in a local Centra.

When she was reprimanded for her last misdemanour, she tried to flee the scene with her three children while her three-month-old baby was left in the jeep of a near-by car-park.

The judge fined the woman €550 and imposed a suspended jail sentence of nine months after taking into account her solicitor's plea that his client had ‘been through a lot’ and her brother had been murdered in England.