Two Dublin women have been each fined €2,500 after claiming they brought back more than 10,000 cigarettes from Tenerife to share with family and friends.
Josephine Curtis, 65, of North Strand Road, D1 and mother of five Martina Dardis, 41, of Fisherman’s Wharf, D4, pleaded guilty today to evasion of excise duty on 10,400 cigarettes.
Revenue officers searched their baggage when they came through the blue channel in Dublin Airport on November 8, 2020..
Dublin District Court heard they found Canary Island stamped cigarettes in one suitcase.
The two women were interviewed and knew they had exceeded their duty-free allowance of 200 cigarettes each.
Judge Anthony Halpin was told the illegal cigarettes were worth €7,056, and the seizure represented a potential loss to the exchequer of more than €4,400.
The offence at the district court level can result in a fine or a possible 12-month sentence.
Judge Halpin queried, “could they fit anything else in their suitcase?”.
However, he also noted they had no prior convictions.
Pleading for leniency, defence counsel Matthew Holmes said they had returned from their holidays and intended to share the cigarettes with family and friends.
He also the judge to note that they were widows and their circumstances.
Noting the mitigation and their guilty pleas, the judge said the lowest fine he could impose in each case was €2,500.
However, he gave them 12 months to pay.
Reporting by Tom Tuite
