'chaotic lifestyle' Woman (26) who left garage without paying €40 for petrol given nine month sentence

A woman with 110 previous convictions who filled a car with €40 of fuel and left without paying has been given a nine-month prison sentence at Balbriggan District Court.

Nikita Ronan (26) pleaded guilty to the offence at the M1 Applegreen Service Station Northbound on December 5, 2018.

Detective Garda Barry Griffin said on the date in question, the defendant got out of a black VW Golf, put €40.39 of fuel in the car and got back into the vehicle.

The male driver of the car then drove off.

Ronan, with an address at Bunting Road, Crumlin, has 110 previous convictions including theft, criminal damage and trespass.

The solicitor for the defence said at the time in question the defendant’s mother was very ill with cancer and subsequently died.

He said Ronan “fell in with a bad peer group” and started using heroin.

It was this addiction that led to all of Ronan’s convictions, he said.

The defendant has lived a chaotic lifestyle and is dealing with a lot of sadness in her past, the solicitor added.

Judge Dermot Dempsey convicted the defendant and sentenced her to nine months in prison with a two-year disqualification from driving.