A SERIAL offender who has more than 200 previous convictions cut her finger with a blade as she tried to remove security tags from a store in the city, a court has heard.

Mary Ryan, 38, of Sharwood Estate, Newcastle West pleaded guilty to a number of charges relating to an incident at Boots, William Street on December 4, last.

Sergeant Sean Murray told Limerick District Court the defendant entered the store at 4.45pm and was observed on CCTV placing a number of items into a bag.

The items, he said included a Yankee Candle and a variety of razor blades worth almost €100.

Judge Mary Larkin was told when security staff approached Ms Ryan, they noticed she had cut her hand and that the items in the bag were covered in blood.

“The goods were recovered but they were not re-saleable. The tags were damaged,” he said confirming that a blade was also seized from the defendant.

During the same hearing, Ms Ryan admitted stealing a bottle of perfume, worth €84, from Brown Thomas at O'Connell Street around an hour later.

After hearing the facts of the case, Judge Larkin, who jailed Ms Ryan in January for a separate spate of offences in west Limerick, said she was “sick to death of this” adding that she continues to “get back on the merry-go-round” every time she is caught and released from prison.

“It’s not fair on everybody else,” she told solicitor Michael O’Donnell who informed the court that his client has no further matters pending at present.

The judge said Ms Ryan “is not getting any younger” and that she has to deal with her drug addiction.

“It’s a terribly sad case,” she commented.

She imposed fines totalling €750 with default a penalty of three days’imprisonment.