SOME BOTTLE | 

Wine thief missed six court hearings as she couldn’t ‘afford to travel’

Michelle Heavey (40) was spared jail after a judge gave her a one-week suspended sentence and fined her €200.

Today at 08:34

A woman who failed to appear in court six times after being found with a stolen bottle of sparkling wine could not afford to travel to Dublin for her case.

Michelle Heavey (40) was “impecunious” at the time and had no money to get “up and down to Dublin.”

She was spared jail after a judge gave her a one-week suspended sentence and fined her €200.

Heavey, of Rosconnell Square, Newbridge, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property and failing to appear in court.

Dublin District Court heard that on February 16, 2022, gardaí stopped the accused at O’Connell Street Upper and found her in possession of a €26 bottle of alcohol. She had no reasonable excuse for having it, and it had been stolen.Heavey was arrested and bailed but subsequently failed to appear in court six times, and three bench warrants had been issued for her arrest.

The accused had two previous convictions, both for theft in 2021.

Heavey could not afford to come to Dublin for her court dates, her lawyer told Judge Monika Leech. The prosecuting garda said he was aware the accused was in homeless accommodation in Kildare and would have had difficulties getting to Dublin.

“She is not someone who would have a lot of money,” the lawyer said.