‘spiralled’ | 

Dublin hairdresser jailed for ‘opportunistic’ handbag thefts in city centre restaurants

Marese Craig (36) used the victims’ bank cards to continue stealing from them

Today at 07:20

A hairdresser snatched women’s handbags in Dublin city centre restaurants and used their bank cards to continue stealing from them in “opportunistic” crimes, a court heard.

Marese Craig (36) was jailed for six months for three separate incidents that happened when she “spiralled” while on drugs.

Judge Maire Conneely also gave her another three-month suspended sentence.

Craig, with an address at Bridgefoot Street, Dublin 8 pleaded guilty to theft charges, with more than €1,000 worth of goods taken.

A garda sergeant told Dublin District Court in the first incident, a woman reported her handbag was stolen at a restaurant on Parnell Street on April 21, 2022. It contained her bank cards and Spanish driving licence.

After the theft, she got messages from her bank about multiple unauthorised transactions on her debit card at a Spar shop in the north city centre. The total loss to the victim was €289 and Craig was later identified on CCTV, arrested and charged.

The court heard the following August 11, another victim was at a cafe on Blessington Street, Dublin 7 when her handbag was taken.

Again, several unauthorised transactions were carried out with the victim’s cards at shops, totalling €648.

On August 30, 2022, a victim’s handbag was taken from the bag of her chair at a restaurant on Parnell Street, with two unauthorised transactions afterwards. The loss in this case was €259.

The offences were all similar opportunistic crimes, Craig’s solicitor Niall O’Connor said.

The items were taken and used for a very short period of time.

The court heard Craig had 166 previous convictions for offences including theft and she had been imprisoned before.

The accused had a supportive family but had begun abusing drugs at the age of 18 and went down a “very bad road.”

Intoxicants “do not suit her” and when she abused them, she “spirals extremely quickly,” Mr O’Connor said.

She was now off all intoxicants and had an insight into the impact of her crimes on the victims.

Craig was already in custody when she appeared in court but had work available to her, and a family home to return to on release, Mr O’Connor said. This level of support was “unusual” for defendants, he said.

Judge Conneely said there was a “huge amount of charge sheets” before the court and she had to impose a custodial sentence in the circumstances.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​