A mother who was pregnant and high on crystal meth when she beat and robbed a man, having lured him to an apartment, has been jailed for six months, writes David Raleigh .

Pamela Maher, of Upper Gerald Griffin St, Limerick, was sentenced yesterday to six months as part of a three-year suspended sentence imposed at Limerick Circuit on February 7, 2014.

The court heard yesterday that Maher, who funded her drug abuse through street prostitution, had breached her bail conditions after she reoffended during the term of the suspended sentence.

The court was told she viciously assaulted and robbed a young girl in September 2014, and snatched a handbag from a woman the following September.

The girl, who was celebrating her Junior Certificate results, was set upon in Limerick City Centre by Maher and another woman. They were intoxicated and looking for cash.

Maher is currently on a methadone programme as a substitute for her heroin addiction, the court heard.

On March 23, 2013, Maher, who was pregnant at the time, and another woman, approached a man on Clare St, Limerick, and lured him to a nearby flat.

When they got inside, the victim was set upon by a group of men, who stabbed and robbed him. He sustained cuts and bruises, including three puncture wounds.

During the original sentencing hearing, presiding judge Carroll Moran heard that a plan was devised by five drug addicts to “pick some eejit, bring him back to an apartment, and rob him”.

John Coleman, aged 26, of Clare St; Amanda Coleman, aged 27, of McGarry House, Alphonsus St; and Emer O’Connell, aged 30, of Clare St, were, along with Maher, charged with robbery, false imprisonment, and the assault of the man.

The victim told gardaí he believed he was going with the women for a cup of tea. When they began undressing him, two men appeared in the apartment with knives.

John Coleman held a knife to the victim’s throat while another unnamed man stabbed him in the upper shoulder/neck area.

As the victim attempted to escape, Amanda Coleman emerged from a wardrobe and searched his pockets while he was being held and beaten. He was stabbed twice more and received other cuts and blows to the head.

The group threatened the man that he would be castrated and have his throat slit.

Two phones and an ATM card were taken from the victim before he managed to flee.

The four defendants had taken ‘snow blow’, or crystal meth drugs, earlier in the day, the court heard.

Mark Nicholas, defending Maher, yesterday described Maher as “taking steps” to deal with her drug habit. He said Maher’s attack on the girl in September 2014 was “a disgrace”.

This report first appeared in the Irish Examiner