A new mother has been spared jail for stealing an overnight bag with baby clothes and a bank card from another mother-to-be who was in labor at a maternity hospital.
tacey Fitzgerald, 31, snatched the bag when the woman was taken for surgery to give birth to her child, then showed bills on the victim’s card at nearby stores in what a court heard was a “despicable” crime .
Both the suspect and her victim were patients at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin at the time.
Judge Bryan Smyth said Fitzgerald “maybe” deserves jail time, but he instead gave her a six-month suspended sentence after reading favorable parole and restorative justice reports.
The suspect, with an address at a B&B in Dublin’s Gardiner Street, pleaded guilty to stealing the bag on September 10 last year.
She also confessed to theft and attempted theft at a number of stores in the northern downtown area on the same date.
Fitzgerald’s plea was heard earlier this year and when the case returned to the Dublin District Court, the judge said the reports appeared “very positive”.
Attorney Paddy McGarry said the accused understood it was a very serious crime; she was “positively involved” in the probation service, made a charitable donation, and did everything the court asked.
The accused had said she was a mother herself, she was “really sorry” and “understands the stress and worry she was causing,” Mr McGarry said.
Fitzgerald had developed drug problems, mainly crack cocaine, by age 25 and while living in Tallaght witnessed an attack near her home and ended up on the street. She is now in a house with her partner and baby.
“I think it is to Ms Fitzgerald’s credit for how she has handled these cases,” Judge Smyth said.
“Maybe she deserves a custodial sentence,” he said, but he suspended the sentence for a year.
Earlier, the court heard that Fitzgerald was a patient at the Rotunda and that the victim was staying in the same ward before being taken for surgery to deliver her baby.
The victim left her overnight bag in the ward, containing personal items, including her clothes, clothes for the new baby and a phone charger.
After the birth, the victim began receiving text messages from her bank about possible fraudulent transactions on her account.
Her partner returned to the ward and found the bag missing.
CCTV footage showed Fitzgerald and another person removing the bag from the department, the court heard.
There was further CCTV evidence from Spar on Gardiner Street showing that the suspect used the victim’s bank card for a fraudulent transaction.
The court heard that there were several thefts and attempted thefts when Fitzgerald ‘tapped’ stores with the card.
Successful transactions totaled €165. The total value of the bag and contents was €350.
A search was carried out at the suspect’s address where some of the stolen items were found.
A co-defendant Laurence Doran (50), with an address in the same B&B, pleaded not guilty to stealing the woman’s bag.
He is not charged with any other offenses and his case is due to be heard next month.