peace bond | 

Cleaner who couldn’t afford hi-vis for job pleads guilty after stealing one from shop

Rodica Avadenei (47) was told she would not be able to continue working without a hi-vis

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A cleaner who shoplifted a hi-vis jacket had been told she needed one under health and safety regulations in her job, but could not afford to buy one.

When Rodica Avadenei (47) was told she would not be able to continue working without a hi-vis, she decided to take a jacket without paying from a city-­centre shop.

Judge Monika Leech put her on a peace bond for a year.

Avadenei, of Berkeley Street, Dublin 7, pleaded guilty to theft at Guineys, North Earl Street, on March 27.

Dublin District Court heard she took the jacket worth €49 and left without paying. She was stopped and the property was recovered.

Avadenei worked as a cleaner in commercial premises and had to wear one of these jackets for health and safety reasons, her lawyer said.

She worked usually after hours and went from job to job.

“She simply needed the jacket and took it for that purpose, there’s nothing more sinister to it than that,” Avadenei’s lawyer told the court.

She had since paid for a jacket.

Separately, on March 24, she shoplifted €7 worth of groceries at Lidl, Moore Street, which she also could not afford.

The accused, originally from Romania, was “somewhat isolated in the community”, her lawyer said. She apologised for the offences.