A shoplifter who stole Louis Vuitton earrings worth €480 from Brown Thomas and later took clothes from Lifestyle Sports has had her three-month jail term replaced with a suspended sentence on appeal.
The District Court Appeals Court heard that Sasha Staunton (28) has 29 previous convictions, including those for theft and the possession of stolen property.
Staunton, with an address on Greek Street, Dublin 7, was convicted in the District Court of two counts of theft on Dublin’s Grafton Street on different days. She later lodged an appeal against the severity of her sentence.
Sergeant Stephen Walsh told the court that on December 4, 2023 in Brown Thomas on Grafton Street, Staunton put on earrings to the value of €480 and left without paying.
He said that in another incident on December 11 that year, gardai responded to reports of a theft at Lifestyle Sports on Grafton Street.
He said that two women were working together and that they left the shop, passing all points of payment. He said that €80 worth of clothes were not recovered.
Staunton’s defence solicitor said that she had checked herself into a facility in Louth and that she has been “quiet as a mouse” ever since.
She said that her client was “deeply committed” to her recovery.
Judge Ronan Munro said that these were serious crimes, noting that Staunton had found herself in a criminal sphere.
However, he also noted that she has completed a four-week residential treatment and is still off drugs.
He said that Staunton was a “menace” on drugs but that he would “gladly” give her an opportunity due to the huge amount of work she had done to complete her treatment.
Judge Munro decided to suspend Staunton’s three-month jail sentence for a period of two years, on the condition that she engages with the probation service and follows all of their instructions.