Pregnant woman jailed for two months for opening a Pringles can in a Tesco

Many people believe that people should never go grocery shopping when they are hungry because it causes them to buy more than they need. An Irish woman had a similar experience two years ago and is now facing jail time.

An Irish woman called Kathleen McDonagh gave in to her pregnancy cravings and went to a Tesco supermarket in Cork to satisfy her appetite. But now that trip to the shops is giving her a criminal record.

Kathleen had previously been convicted of theft before. The Cork Tesco store had banned Kathleen from their premises. The staff were aware of this and saw her take a tin of Pringles and walk to the checkout area.

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Once she was at the self-checkout stand security tried to remove her from the premises, so she opened the Pringles so that she would have to pay for it, thereby not allowing her to leave. She told them:

"I opened it so you have to leave me pay for it.”

CONSEQUENCES

The store’s management took Kathleen to court for entering the store while being banned from it and for damage to property. The opened can of Pringles was a loss of €1.50 to the store.

Kathleen’s legal team tried to use the fact that she was seven months pregnant as her defense, but they were unsuccessful. The court sentenced her to four months in jail with a two-month suspended sentence.

Not all mothers are in jail because of actions that are their fault. Sometimes even the best intentions can get someone put in prison.

An example of this happened in November when a mother of three was forced to take matters into her own hands when an intruder entered her home while her children were sleeping.

The mother shot the intruder in the arm with a handgun which luckily caused him to leave the property. She could prove it was self-defense and received no charges, but not all mothers are that fortunate.

MOTHER VS. THE LAW

A 35-year-old mother called Roxanne Peters was sentenced to ten years in prison after being found guilty of murdering her rapist who threatened that if she did not have sex with him, he would proceed to harm her daughter.

She responded to his threats by stabbing him several times in the heart and penis and then dumped his body in a ditch. Law enforcement found his corpse the next day, and the investigation found Roxanne to be the killer.

The court did not accept her defense that she was trying to protect her daughter as well as herself from further rape and harm. She will, however, be allowed to apply for parole in two years.