Dublin woman with ‘record’ 856 convictions is jailed for shoplifting rum

Serial thief and public order nuisance Jennifer Armstrong carried out the theft just a day after she was given a suspended sentence for a similar offence.

Judge Ciaran Liddy jailed her for three months when she appeared in Blanchardstown District Court.

Armstrong (48), with an address at a Dublin city hostel, pleaded guilty to theft, public intoxication and threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour.

The court heard at 3.35pm on February 1, she went to SuperValu, Main Street, Blanchardstown. She selected a single can of Bacardi, opened it and drank it in the shop. She then tried to leave without paying and was stopped by security.

Armstrong became extremely aggressive to security and was allowed to exit.

Gardaí were called later that evening and identified her from CCTV. When they were on Main Street afterwards, they saw Armstrong standing at a bus stop in an extremely intoxicated state and arrested her.

She had been given a four-month suspended sentence for theft and public order offences at the same court the day before, January 31.

The majority of her previous convictions were of a similar nature – public order offences, theft and criminal damage.

Her defence said she had long-standing crack cocaine and heroin addictions and had spent 30 years of her life in prison.

“I can’t deny she has an incredibly long list of previous convictions, but she is trying,” he said. ​

Judge Liddy sentenced Armstrong to three months for theft, with a concurrent one-month sentence for breach of the peace.

Armstrong has one of the longest criminal records every seen in this country. One judge previously described it as “a record”.