serial thief | 

Mum (48) jailed for 506th conviction after stealing handbag from Dublin Starbucks

Catherine Lambert (48) clocked up her latest criminal conviction for taking the purse while the victim was distracted

Yesterday at 14:30

A serial thief with 505 prior convictions who stole from a woman’s handbag in a coffee shop has been jailed for four months.

Mother-of-one Catherine Lambert (48) clocked up her latest criminal conviction for taking the purse while the victim was distracted in a Dublin city centre Starbucks.

Lambert, a “chronic” drug addict, with an address at a city centre hotel, pleaded guilty to theft on December 10 last year. Dublin District Court heard she went to Starbucks on North Earl Street, sat beside the victim and when the woman was distracted, slid her handbag away from her and removed the purse.

Lambert stole the contents worth €370 and was later identified on CCTV footage. She had previous convictions for offences including theft and deception.

The latest charge was only brought in March this year and Lambert would have pleaded earlier if she could have, her solicitor Yvonne Bambury said.

She was already in custody when she appeared in court, with a release date in November.

The accused had been attending drug rehabilitation while in prison, had health issues and was due to go for major surgery soon.

Lambert had been in addiction since the age of 14, after her parents separated, Ms Bambury said. She had lived with various people who did not all act in her best interests, she said.

Lambert had been struggling ever since and her addiction had escalated. She was now “doing her best” in prison.

Judge Bryan Smyth said the accused had “a significant number of previous convictions” and noted that the victim’s property had not been recovered.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​