A young woman who pleaded guilty to stealing €2,000 from a business owner in Tramore appeared in court recently.
Charlotte Conway (20) of Apartment 7, Thomas Court, Thomas Street, Waterford, previously of Campile, Wexford, and St John’s Park, Waterford, appeared before Judge John Cheatle at a sitting of Waterford District Court in April via video link from Limerick Women’s Prison, where she was being held on remand.
The accused pleaded guilty to burglary, contrary to Section 12 (1) (b) and (3) of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.
Sergeant Michael Hickey told the court that this charge related to an incident on 31 January 2026, where the accused entered a staff-only area of a massage parlour in Tramore and took money from a purse belonging to the owner, along with takings from the premises. This resulted in a total loss of €2,000 between money from the business and the owner’s personal funds, Sgt. Hickey said.
The court was told that the accused was also pleading guilty to two additional charges of burglary from two separate businesses in Waterford City that arose from incidents at the beginning of February 2026, along with three charges of theft, contrary to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, relating to three separate incidents in November 2025 and January and February of this year.
Acting for the defendant, solicitor Ken Cunningham told the court that the accused had been in custody since 19 February 2026, and that a ‘favourable’ probation report about her case had been completed, and was presented to Judge Cheatle.
Mr. Cunningham added that the period of being on remand had provided a “period of stability” for his client.
It was noted that the accused has 10 previous convictions, which are all related to theft.
Sgt Hickey said the accused had received a six month sentence suspended for 12 months in October 2025.
It was noted that only one victim impact statement was available. This was presented to Judge Cheatle.
Although the probation report was read by the Judge, its contents were not read out in court. The judge said although it “hasn’t been easy” for the accused, “she can’t take it out on other people.”
Judge Cheatle said the offences were “reasonably serious”, and noted that the accused is already serving a suspended sentence.
The judge decided to activate this suspended sentence, and backdated it to when the accused entered custody in February 2026.
Along with activating the suspended sentence, Judge Cheatle handed the accused a second six-month sentence which will be suspended for 18 months. The accused was also placed on a probation supervision bond.
Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme
Robyn Power
