A Dublin woman who stole from the pharmacy where she worked after becoming addicted to codeine has avoided a jail sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Linda Mitchell (54) was handed a two-year suspended sentence after she pleaded guilty to stealing approximately €14,000 from Ballyfermot Pharmacy between August 2019 and February 2020.
Mitchell, with an address at Coldcut Park apartments, Palmerstown, Dublin 20, was employed by the pharmacy in 2011 and worked there for eight to nine years until the thefts were discovered.
The court heard that the owner of the pharmacy became suspicious when the till receipts were not reconciled and hired a private consultancy firm to monitor CCTV footage of transactions.
Mitchell was taking 24 tablets of Nurofen Plus a day at the time of offending, the court heard.
Passing sentence on Wednesday, Judge Martin Nolan noted that the pharmacist had suspicions for a longer period of time but said the court was confined to examining the period set out in the indictment.
The judge said the offence represented a breach of trust and a serious amount of money stolen, but he noted that Mitchell had a codeine addiction at the time and was suitably remorseful for what she had done and unlikely to reoffend.
The court heard that Mitchell had already repaid €7,500 of the money stolen and had brought a further €6,500 to court to complete the restitution.
CCTV
Garda Michael Noonan told John Berry BL, prosecuting, that the owner of the pharmacy, Mr Tadgh Dillane, had concerns that the tills were not being reconciled.
He installed CCTV to capture what was happening during transactions at the till and hired a firm called Tonic Consultancy to investigate.
It was revealed that when certain items were being purchased, Mitchell would take the money from the customer and scan the item, but subsequently remove the item from the scan and void the sale.
However, the court heard that Mitchell was not always correct in what was voided and what was not, leading to discrepancies in the tills being reconciled.
Mitchell was invited to a meeting with Mr Dillane and Tonic Consultancy and made certain admissions.
Judge Nolan asked counsel how long the pharmacist was suspicious for and counsel replied that he was only in a position to prove the theft of €14,000, but that Mitchell had been employed since 2011.
Mitchell was arrested and told gardaí the thefts began some time before Christmas 2019 and that she was taking between €50 and €80 day.
Mitchell has no previous convictions and had not come to garda attention since this offence, the court heard. She is back in employment now and has two adult children.
Mental breakdown
Mr Dillane made a victim impact statement, of which a redacted copy was handed to court.
Counsel said Mr Dillane spoke of Mitchell’s deceptions which he said were “too numerous to mention” and said the company had had to spend significant time and money bringing the case to prosecution and paying a private consultancy.
Mr Dillane’s statement also said that he had made decisions on Mitchell’s behalf to the detriment of other staff, and that long-standing employees had not received pay increases or bonuses as a result of Mitchell’s actions.
Mr Dillane said any apology from Mitchell was “meaningless”, the court heard.
Pieter Le Vert BL, defending, said Mitchell, on realising the extent of the harm that she had done, was racked by guilt and remorse.
Mr Le Vert said his client had worked ever since leaving school after the Junior Certificate, primarily in pharmacies.
He said Mitchell had a type of physical and mental breakdown and became addicted to codeine, taking 24 Nurofen Plus tablets a day.
He said that Mitchell had not only lost her job when her offences came to light, but lost her flat and became briefly homeless until a family member took her in.
She was suicidal for a time, counsel said, but is in a better place now and had very strong family support.
Letters were presented to court from Mitchell’s counsellor, GP and from her daughter, saying what a good mother and grandmother she is.
Mitchell herself also wrote a letter to the judge reiterating her remorse.
Judge Nolan ordered Mitchell to hand over the remaining €6,500 to the investigating garda within a week and to be of good behaviour for two years.
