A Dublin drug addict who pleaded guilty to a range of shoplifting charges and a charge of escaping from Garda custody earlier this month has been released on bail on condition that she attend ongoing treatment for her problem.
Rachel Keogh (26), Mercer Street, Dublin, has been assessed in the past few days by consultant psychiatrist Dr Brion Sweeney, an expert in the treatment of drug addiction.
She is to be placed on a waiting list for a residential detoxification course at the Cuan Dara treatment centre at Cherry Orchard hospital. The court heard from Keogh's solicitor, Fiona Brennan, that securing a place could take a number of months.
In the meantime, Keogh has been ordered as part of her bail conditions to attend daily treatment at the national drug treatment centre at Trinity Court on Pearse Street. This will include the prescription of a heroin substitute and counselling sessions to help stabilise her ahead of her detoxification course.
The court had previously heard that Keogh had been seeking a place on the course at Cuan Dara after she was arrested on July 1st on South William Street in Dublin. Two of the charges which she faced related to the theft of €328 worth of property from two stores earlier that day and one to her escape from Garda custody the following day, after being visited by a doctor.
She had three outstanding bench warrants against her at the time of her arrest, related to the theft of property from other city-centre stores three times between November 2004 and June 2005.
Sgt Patricia Gill of Pearse Street station outlined a further two shoplifting charges against Keogh. These relate to the theft of Lacoste merchandise totalling €653 from a Louis Copeland store on Capel Street in December 2004 and the theft of €434.28 of cosmetic goods from Dunnes Stores in the Stephen's Green shopping centre in July 2005.
Judge Cormac Dunne released her yesterday on her own bond of €500, subject to a number of conditions. These included that she live with her mother Lynda while attending the national drug treatment centre, that she obey a night-time curfew and that she attend the Cuan Dara centre when a place there becomes available.
He ordered her to reappear in court on October 9th.
Judge Dunne described Keogh as "very lucky" to have the day- to-day support of her family. He hoped that she would not be back in court before October. Wishing her well, he said she was entering a "very important period in her life" and had an opportunity to return to normality.
Outside the court, Keogh said she wished to thank all of those who had supported her. Her mother, Lynda, also expressed her satisfaction with the decision of the court, but stressed that her daughter still faces a wait for treatment.