A burglar has been given a second chance to stay out of prison by a judge, who said he was appalled at her tragic home life. It involved sexual abuse by her father and heroin use since she was 13.
Laura Kinsella made the sexual abuse claim on oath last January. Judge Kevin Haugh originally suspended a three-year sentence for her role in terrorising a 72-year-old widow who lived alone.
Kinsella (19), the mother of a three-year-old daughter, of Montpelier Hill and North Circular Road, Dublin, pleaded guilty to burgling the widow's home on May 20th, 1996, and stealing property worth £1,500.
Her case was re-entered before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after the original suspension when she breached the bond conditions. She was arrested on a bench warrant and sent back to jail by Judge Haugh on July 7th. Reviewing the sentence again yesterday, Judge Haugh released Kinsella on bail until June 15th, 1998, under the supervision of the Probation and Welfare Service.
He noted she had "jumped out of the frying-pan into the fire" from her tragic home life to becoming involved with "a very evil boyfriend", who dragged her into the burglary offence.
At the original hearing, defence counsel Mr Brendan Mulhall said Kinsella's father "went berserk" when told she was to meet a probation officer. He forced her to stay away from the probation service and to leave Coolmine centre.
Mr Mulhall said: "He doesn't want her to have anything to do with the probation officers in case she would disclose his abuse of her. He also threatened to `do her mother in' if Laura continued to go to the probation service."