An Irish woman who opened a can of Pringles in a store before paying for it has been jailed for causing damage to the chip tube, according to the Irish Times.
After 25-year-old Kathleen McDonagh popped the Pringles while waiting in the self-checkout line of a Tesco store in Cork from which she had previously been barred, she was sentenced to two months in prison for damaging the product.
McDonagh told the court that she opened the can when she saw security approaching her because she thought they would be forced to let her pay for it.
“As the security officers approached her she opened the Pringles and removed the foil top and she said, ‘I opened it so you have to leave me pay for it,’” Police inspector Ronan Kennelly told Judge Brian O’Shea of the Dec. 27, 2016 incident. “It was not fit for resale with a loss of €1.50. She said she wanted to buy the Pringles but she had no permission to be in the store.”
McDonagh had 31 previous convictions including 14 for theft and two for criminal damage. She has also been convicted of handling stolen property.
McDonagh’s defense asked for leniency because she’s five months pregnant and a newlywed. However, Judge O’Shea said that it was difficult to see her actions as “anything but smart alec behavior” before leveling a four-month sentence with two months suspended.
