Woman jailed after €1,700 theft spree from shops across Donegal

A woman has been jailed for stealing over €1,700 worth of goods from shops across County Donegal.

Among Shirley Ward’s litany of thefts, including leaving supermarkets in Buncrana with over €1,300 worth of alcohol in trolleys.

Ward was jailed for four months when she appeared at Letterkenny District Court.

In total, Ward was sentenced for 10 thefts amounting to €1,717.90 from shops in Letterkenny, Drumkeen, Ballybofey, Laghey and Buncrana. 

Ward was brought to court from the Dóchas Centre having been refused bail at a special sitting of Letterkenny District Court the previous weekend.

The 37-year-old, who has an address at Gleanntain Manor, Letterkenny, was charged with offences contrary to section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.

Ward was charged with stealing property, to wit, miscellaneous groceries worth €557.57, the property of Lidl, Ardaravan Square, Buncrana on January 16, 2026.

She was also charged with stealing €60 worth of clothing from Tesco, Letterkenny Shopping Centre on Christmas Eve and with the theft of €64.98 worth of liquor from Kee’s Eurospar, Laghey on December 28, 2025.

Ward was also charged with the theft of: €787.60 worth of goods from SuperValu, Buncrana, on December 19, 2025; two bottles of vodka, valued at €42, from Boland’s Centra, Ballybofey on December 15, 2025; two bottles of vodka, a Coke Zero and a bottle of laundry detergent from Aldi, Ramelton Road, Letterkenny, on December 14, 2025; groceries to the value of €82.05 from Cosgrove’s Centra, Letterkenny on September 22, 2025; vodka worth €44 from Boland’s Centra, Ballybofey on September 2, 2025; fizzy drinks and sandwiches worth €16.05 from Kernan’s, Drumkeen on September 2, 2025; and bottles of motor oil worth €15 from the Dry Arch Complex, Letterkenny on August 24, 2025.

A nolle prosequi was entered in respect of the theft of three bottles of perfume from McElhinney’s, Ballybofey on December 22, 2025.

Sergeant Maurice Doyle told the court that Ward has 27 previous convictions, six of which are spend. Ward has 21 previous convictions for theft, the court heard.

Ward’s solicitor, Mr Rory O’Brien, said that the sad reality in the case is that alcohol addiction “has a significant grip” on Ward.

He said his client didn’t come to adverse attention in 20 years and her offending behaviour only really began last summer.

“Some of it makes sense, some of it makes little sense,” Mr O’Brien said, pointing to the theft of motor oil when Ward has no vehicle as an example.

He said his client lives in Dublin, but has an address in Letterkenny and returned to Donegal to mark the six-month anniversary of the death of a family member. 

Mr O’Brien said: “She has significant ongoing difficulties. She obviously has capability and ability in herself to live a law-abiding, normal life. She surrounded herself by either her own design or at the behest of others with people during tragedy that exacerbated maters.

“The family is still going through a grieving period. Obviously, you can be united in grief, but you can’t abuse alcohol to this extend.”

Mr O’Brien told the court that Ward is “very quiet, very reserved” and has never displayed aggression. 

“She wishes me to say sorry and she has very little recollection of the offences,” the solicitor added. “She has pleaded at the earliest opportunity, saving the State time.”

Judge Ciaran Liddy imposed four-month prison sentences on five of the charges, with the others marked as taken into consideration by the court. 

The sentences are to run concurrently with credit to be given for time already served in custody.