TWO women and a man caught on CCTV as they embarked on a shoplifting “rampage” around Enniskillen at the weekend have each received suspended jail sentences.

The trio, all from the Republic of Ireland, also admitted stealing goods valued at £700 from Enniskillen’s Asda store during a previous visit to Fermanagh two weeks before.

They were arrested on Saturday afternoon after they attempted to steal around £560 worth of items on a return visit to the local Asda.

Police then searched the two vehicles they had been travelling in and uncovered a variety of goods valued at over £4,500 that had been stolen from a series of other stores in Enniskillen.

The three defendants were subsequently led into the dock at Fermanagh Magistrates Court on Monday.

Colm Quinn (42), of Library Hall, Tullamore, County Offaly, and Siobhan Moylan (39) and Zoe Lynch (20), both of Shinrone, Birr, also in County Offaly, all pleaded guilty to stealing £700 of items from Enniskillen Asda on February 25, and attempting to steal goods worth £560.69 belonging to the same Asda store on March 11, 2017.

They entered guilty pleas to seven further counts of theft from other stores in Enniskillen, as well as handling stolen goods, on March 11.

In all, they admitted stealing a total of £4,524.69 worth of household items, toiletries, clothing, and jewellery from B&M Bargains, Houstons, Heatons, Sports Direct, New Look, River Island and Quiz.

Meanwhile, Quinn also pleaded guilty to obstructing police on March 11.

All charges were withdrawn against a fourth defendant who was also arrested on Saturday.

The court heard that, at 2.50pm on March 11, police received a report from security staff at Asda about a group of shoplifters who had returned to the store.

The security staff told officers that the group – made up of the three defendants and two other individuals – had previously left the store without paying for two trolleys full of goods on February 25.

When they returned, the staff immediately contacted the police and identified the five suspects to the officers. The group had again filled two trolleys but, upon seeing the police, they abandoned the goods.

The fifth individual ran off and was never apprehended, the court heard.

After he was arrested, Colm Quinn gave his name as ‘Niall McCann’. However, it became clear when enquiries were made with the Gardai that the name he had given was false.

Officers then searched the two vehicles the group had been travelling in, a blue Renault Laguna with a Mayo registration and a silver Laguna with a Dublin registration.

They uncovered the goods worth over £4,500 from the various stores inside.

CCTV footage of the five suspects was taken from both the Asda store and Enniskillen town centre.

The town centre footage showed the defendants entering stores empty-handed before leaving with shopping bags filled with goods.

It also showed the silver Laguna being driven by Siobhan Moylan leaving Eden Street car park, closely followed by the blue car.

At the police station, Colm Quinn had less than 600 euro on him. None of the other defendants had any money or cards with which to pay for goods.

A Public Prosecution Service (PPS) representative told the court that police believed the defendants were acting on a ‘joint-enterprise’ basis and this was reflected in the CCTV footage.

During interview, Zoe Lynch made a full admission, while the others made no comment.

The goods seized by police on March 11 were fit for resale, the court heard.

Defending solicitor, Myles McManus, told the court that this was a “very serious matter” involving a substantial amount of stolen material.

Mr. McManus admitted that the evidence against his clients was “overwhelming”, but said they had met the matter “head-on”.

While conceding that their culpability was “very high”, the solicitor said that the only loss sustained financially was by Asda on February 25.

In mitigation, Mr. McManus said none of the defendants had a previous record in Northern Ireland.

However, he revealed that Quinn was well-known to the courts in the Republic of Ireland, and Moylan also had a “limited” record across the Border.

The solicitor added that both Quinn and Moylan had consented to the forfeiture of their cars, describing the loss of the vehicles as a “blow” to both.

Deputy district judge Benita Boyd observed that it appeared the defendants decided on the day to go on “some sort of rampage” and steal as much as they could from as many shops as they could.

Ruling that the custody threshold had been crossed in the case, the judge said she would also take into account what had been said on behalf of each defendant and suspend the sentences.

Ms. Boyd sentenced Quinn and Moylan to eight months in jail, which she suspended for 30 months, while Lynch was also given an eight-month sentence, suspended for two years in her case.

Both Moylan and Lynch were also ordered to pay £233 restitution to Asda. Their co-accused Quinn was ordered to pay £234.