A 43-year-old woman in bathrobe clothes and pyjamas arrested abreast a abode in the countryside breadth a safe was baseborn during a break-in told gardaí she was in the breadth to go for a walk.
Kathleen Stokes, age-old 43, of Bay 4, St Anthony’s Park, Knocknaheeny, Cork, pleaded not accusable to three accuse adjoin her arising out of the burglary. She pleaded not accusable to all three counts at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
Ms Stokes was put on balloon in advanced of Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin and a board of four men and eight women bygone on accuse of break-in a safe during a break-in at a abode on Faggott Hill, Clogheen, Blarney, Co Cork, damaging the house, and administration of baseborn property, namely the safe.
The buyer of the house, Mary Murphy, was abroad for the weekend and this declared break-in was agitated out at about 7pm on Saturday, April 29. Prosecution barrister, Imelda Kelly, said the anxiety went off and the anxiety aggregation notified the ancestors of the householder’s son and his ancestors active 150m away.
When Ms Stokes was chock-full at Faggott Hill, she told Garda Anthony Gardiner she was out for a walk.
During analytic at Gurranabraher Garda Station, Detective Garda Donal O’Connell said to the defendant: “You are not absolutely dressed for active through fields.”
Ms Stokes denied in account that she had annihilation to do with a burglary.
“I apperceive annihilation about any burglary, I don’t accomplish crime,” she said.
The householder’s daughter-in-law, Anne Murphy, collection to the abode with her son, Peter, in acknowledgment to the anxiety aggregation call.
“Just as we were slowing bottomward to about-face this beach auto attempt out the aboideau and stopped,” she said.
“We affectionate of looked at it. I said: ‘They charge accept been in the house.’ I aloof collection afterwards the auto beeping at them to stop to apperceive why they were in the house. There was a woman with continued albino beard in the commuter bench and bodies in the back.
“They chock-full at the aftermost abode virtually. I chock-full abaft them. We didn’t apperceive what to do really. Peter approved to buzz the guards. The abutting affair they aback backed on top of my car.”
She said the auto collection off afresh and into a field.
Mr Murphy said he saw a woman abrogation the acreage via a neighbouring farmyard a few account later.
Sian Langley, defence barrister, put it to the attestant that he could not say that the woman he saw in the auto was the aforementioned woman he saw abrogation the yard. He accustomed that proposition.
Garda Anthony Gardiner said he responded to the alarm about the break-in and saw Ms Stokes walking on Faggott Hill in bathrobe clothes and pyjamas-type attire.
Garda Gardiner said the auto begin in the acreage had a safe in the aback of it. He said this auto had been anchored alfresco Bay 4, St Anthony’s Park the antecedent day.
Ms Langley said this agent was not registered to the defendant.
The balloon continues today.
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