A 27-year-old mother-of-three, who pleaded guilty to stealing more than €63,000 of jewellery, was just a pawn in a violent armed robbery, her defence lawyer claimed.
Ms Theresa Mockett, with an address in Liscannor, Co Clare, was appearing yesterday before Limerick Circuit Court.
She was charged with stealing €63,169 worth of jewellery from Ryan's Jewellers, Roches Street, Limerick, on September 25th, 2001.
Gardaí told the court that, on the day of the robbery, a woman had called to the premises and pressed the buzzer to gain entry.
Two men wearing motorcycle helmets - one of whom was armed with a gun - barged into the shop after her, shouting and screaming.
The raiders grabbed trays of jewellery from the window, and threatened the two staff members with the gun.
In an interview, Ms Mockett told gardaí that she had been contacted the night before the robbery by a man she knew. He asked her if she wanted to make some money.
She met him the next morning and he told her all she had to do was go to town and wait for a call. Then she had to ring the buzzer outside the jewellers' premises.
Later, the man who masterminded the robbery met her and gave her €300 for her part in the raid. He asked her what she had told gardaí about the incident.
Judge Carroll Moran ordered that she should pay the compensation costs as agreed. He put the matter back for sentencing to the next term of the Circuit Court.
"She may have been a pawn in the robbery, but she was an essential cog," he said.