Woman contacted solicitor within minutes of taking headphones from a Kilkenny shop
A woman who rang her solicitor 30 minutes after she walked out of a shop without paying for a set of headphones has been convicted of theft, at Kilkenny District Court.
Chloe O’Reilly, 3 St Mary’s Crescent, Hebron Road, Kilkenny, pleaded guilty to the charge.
On January 21, 2026, Ms O’Reilly went into a store in Hebron Business Park. She took a pair of JVC headphones from their packaging, put them inside her top and left without paying. The property was not recovered.
Solicitor Chris Hogan said his client had asked him to apologise on her behalf. She was put under a ‘certain pressure’ that day, he said, and she contacted him within 30 minutes.
The solicitor told Ms Reilly to go back and pay for the item, but the shop would not accept payment when she returned.
Judge Patricia Cronin said the court was concerned Ms O’Reilly had five previous theft convictions. She imposed a six month prison sentence, suspended for two years, saying Ms O’Reilly had not offended during a suspended sentence in the past.