Women enters guilty plea to theft charges after escaping arrest in Cork city

A woman who escaped from gardaí arresting her on warrants for failing to show up to face shoplifting charges in court has now pleaded guilty to the theft charges and was remanded in custody for a fortnight for a probation report.

Solicitor Killian McCarthy said that the first thing that Olivia Costin wanted to do was to apologise to the stores from which she stole — Elvery’s, JD Sports, and Marks & Spencer.

“She knows they have suffered a loss as a result of her actions and there is no reasonable chance of a her being able to compensate them financially.

“She is a 20-year-old woman and she has had a very difficult life. She is using homeless services and emergency accommodation.

“She has a bad history relating to substance misuse. More recently she has been engaging with Arbor House and reducing her methadone intake as the weeks go on. She is someone who is just trying to do her best in the circumstances in which she finds herself,” Mr McCarthy said.

Judge Catherine Ryan said she would have to get a probation report before she finalised the case in a fortnight. She was remanded in custody for a week following her re-arrest. As bail was refused on that occasion she had shouted: “I hope your children end up like me.”

Garda O’Brien said the woman was a self-confessed crack cocaine and heroin addict.

The woman also said she suffered from anxiety and when she was put in the patrol car she had a panic attack.

Garda O’Brien responded to the claim by saying: “I don’t think she had much of a panic attack as she was able to run over the bridge and up to the northside.”