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Woman with 252 previous convictions jailed for stealing till drawer from Dublin pub

Cawley, with an address at Daletree Place, Ballycullen, pleaded guilty to burglary at Brannigan’s, Cathedral Street, in the north city centre

Andrew Phelan

Today at 09:30

A woman who stole a till drawer with €800 in cash in a burglary at a city-centre pub has been jailed for eight months.

Margaret Cawley (33), who forcibly removed the drawer before making off with it, had more than 250 previous convictions, a court heard.

Judge Gerard Jones sentenced her when she appeared in ­Dublin District Court.

Cawley, with an address at Daletree Place, Ballycullen, pleaded guilty to burglary at Brannigan’s, Cathedral Street, in the north city centre on May 26 last year.

The court heard the accused entered the pub that afternoon and went to a staff area where she forcibly removed a drawer from the till containing €800. She escaped and gardaí were called at 5pm.

Cawley was identified on CCTV and later arrested and charged. The money was never recovered.The court heard Cawley had 252 previous convictions for offences including burglary and theft.

She was already serving a prison sentence in Mountjoy’s Dóchas Centre when she appeared in court on the latest charge.

The accused had had difficulties in life, with a tragic family past, her lawyer said.Cawley had got off drugs while she was in prison, was trying to better herself and was working as an industrial cleaner there.

Her release date was next February and her lawyer asked the judge to be as lenient as possible.