Hahahahaha I was wondering when someone would mention garlic! ROFL!

they save a potential 4575euro but spend roughly 25000 to lock her up…and we wounder why the countrys broke

That’s assuming she would have been selling them at €9.10! Those cigs would probably have been at knockdown prices

They should go around to every Bingo hall in the country and seize all the cigs been sold out of duffle bags! I’m guessing because it’s locals selling those that a blind eye is been turned.

Btw She would be well over the UK limit then too!

If you bring in more than 3200 David they take the amount you are over off you and off you go with your 3200. A prison sentence is ridiculous.

and the justice system crumbling to ashes

Do you have experience with that Mike? ;-) wink wink

I don’t want to talk about it…. Ok he was just teaching me how to wrestle!!

LOL, Hope you had fun.

Thats the irish government and justice system for you, pick on the poor protect the rich.

What did Dillon say?

Something like

”Steal a little and they throw you in jail”
”Steal a lot and they make you King”

Simply deport her.

Better punishment would be to lock her in the hot press and not let her out till she smoked all the smokes, it’s what my dad did to me when he caught me with smokes

Thats what i thought Tom but last summer i brought 800 back from Spain (Alicante), i paid Tax on them they took 600 off me at Dublin airport and they were rude

No it’s not, the excise duty must also be paid here!

@lickmestarfish, you are wrong, duty does not have to be paid twice on cigarettes in the EU, once a person has a receipt to prove they paid duty in another EU country they can bring as many cigarettes as they like into Ireland, that is the law according to the EU, EU law supersedes Irish law on the matter but hey dont take my word on it this is what the chairperson of revenue has said on the issue, She said——–
“There are three main ways in which untaxed tobacco gets into the country. The first is often missed in the discussion. In the context of our membership of the European Union, people can bring duty paid tobacco from other member states for their personal use. While we have an indicative guideline of 800 cigarettes, it is only indicative and the law states a person can bring in tobacco for personal use. There is significant case law in the European and domestic courts that suggests that the burden of proof for us to establish cigarettes are not for personal use is very high. People can legally bring many thousands of cigarettes into the country for their own use.”
She goes on to talk about the 2 main illegal sources of ciggys coming into Ireland, but , significantly, concludes by saying…..
“Those are the three main sources of untaxed cigarettes. The second two sources are illegal while the first is not, and that is an important point.”
So, that is the Chairperson of the Revenue Commisioners stating very clearly that it is NOT illegal to bring in thousands of cigarettes (or tobacco,or drink) — provided that the relevant taxes have been paid in another member state,( irrespective of whether those taxes are higher or lower than Ireland’s,) and that the goods are for personal use.
My view is that an Irish judge cannot ‘interpret’ the law to suit the purpose of tax gathering. European law takes precedence – and there is ‘significant case law’ to uphold this. http://debates.oireachtas.ie/ACC/201…1/printall.asp

http://www.revenue.ie/en/customs/leaflets/pn1878.html

800 is the maximum number of cigarettes permitted/considered as personal use but you must have receipts.

Stadler I have already proven that the 800 is only a guideline it is not law, what is your agenda here? or are you just speaking out of ignorance? Do you really think you know better than the chairperson of Revenue who said; While we have an indicative guideline of 800 cigarettes, it is only indicative and the law states a person can bring in tobacco for personal use. There is significant case law in the European and domestic courts that suggests that the burden of proof for us to establish cigarettes are not for personal use is very high. People can legally bring many thousands of cigarettes into the country for their own use.”

I dont think they sell Bond cigarettes here do they, I know there use to be Gold Bond are the the same. If not and they are brand you cant get here then she should have been allowed to bring them into the country. Would have been a different kettle of fish if she had had several different brands.

Amazing who much the exchequer makes in tax and excise on 58 cartons of cigarettes.

Yes the problem is that most east eu smuggled cigs are spurious brands so as well as the tax anomalies they can throw IPR ACTA SOPA or whatever you want to call pirated goods trade laws into the mix

Govt makes 4 – 5 times as much money from excise on cigarettes as it costs them on damage to public health. See what happened with car tax since 2008? Revenue collapsed, they’re now backtracking. It’s all about the money.

58 weeks of cigs – could be argued!!!

Actual quick maths – 580 cartons/packs

Also I’d be very interested to see the reactions on this page if the facts were just a little bit different. E.g.
“23 Year Old Male Traveller sentenced to 4 months for cigarette seizure”.

Ooh now there’s a good point! My opinion would have been different had that been the headline – makes u think!

A big difference between murder and taking a few cigs, they could have gave her the fine and community service. She can pay for her crime that way instead of costing the tax payer €1800 a week. If she does the full sentence it will cost the state just under €30,000. MAD

@ Mark Larson- I very clearly said that i disagreed with the sentence she received and that I’d rather she got fined.
The point I was making is that people on this site are arguing that because other people are doing bad things (e.g. bankers) and getting away with it, so should she which is an absolutely ridiculous argument to make.

Ignoreland, what guilt are you talking about? It is perfectly legal to bring as many cigs as you want into Ireland as long as they are for personal use and you have a receipt proving you paid duty in the country you bought them (EU) have a read of this http://debates.oireachtas.ie/ACC/201…1/printall.asp

Eh she was found GUILTY of a crime and sentenced to prison!!…

I think a lot of the disagreement is of the prison sentence, community service would be more apt for this crime at least that way the community is gaining something and not spending on her prison stay, this crime just does not warrant a custodial sentence

why excellent news? I suppose you are in favour of the use of Irish tax pauers money to pay unsecured bond holders? gombeen.

Tom, are you trying to imply that small crimes are ok or something?

Typical irish attitude. Sure, let them off with it. Oh it was only a few quid resting in my account. Era thanks for the pressie I will rezone that no problem. Nod nod wink wink. What are you, a FF voter?

A crime is a crime is a crime. And this one was even fraud ffs. If you think this person should get away with defrauding us, forcing the rest of us to pay more to fill that hole, then what is the problem with the bigger fish doing it too?

No P Wurple, I never said crime was ok, however it is perfectly legal to bring as many ciggs as you want into Ireland from another EU country once they are for personal use and you have paid the duty on them in the EU country of origin and have a receipt to prove it.

Looks like the courts say it was not for personal use Tom. There is not enough in the article to say if she was a repeat offender, or any other detail.

@Wade Removing relevant comments shows bias on behalf of the author, be it for whatever reason ,Your editing of comments show selective opinions and unbalanced views

Hi Heywood. I’m afraid you’re mistaken, I haven’t removed any comments from this story.

Agreed. I was literally fuming reading the comments. If *anyone* breaks the law they should receive the appropriate punishment. We are losing millions to cigarette smuggling so it looks like the judges are coming down harder on it. Great.

Gary the journal is one place where people can air their anger and frustration over the governance of our country, we are all entitled to an opinion, I don’t condone criminal activity either but the punishment for her crime was harsh and will cost the taxpayer, the stupid decision to give her a custodial sentence instead of fines and community work does not make any financial sense but what more can we expect from a government which contributed in our economic downfall, the years of negligent financial prudence!! I thought we were trying to tighten the belts here and save money…. And everything will be compared to the crimes of the government, banks, developers etc until we see justice!

Simone I’d suggest if we gave a shíte about economic governance we wouldn’t have elected Fianna Fail three times in a row. All the crying about the spilt milk (on every topic you can think of) is very tiresome.

Tom, the woman was found guilty by the courts, probably because it CLEARLY is far above personal use.

It saddens me that smuggling and fraud is tolerated by anyone.

What has cigarette smuggling got to do with Bankers etc?

What has the got to do with bankers?

Law

P WURPLE, why do you insist on ignoring the facts? This woman was probably taking cigarettes into Ireland to sell them because if they were for her personal use it would have been perfectly legal. There is no limit on bringing cigarettes into Ireland for personal use from another EU country, you obviously have an agenda here, but as before I will show you what the chairperson of revenue said on the matter, Josephine Feeley; While we have an indicative guideline of 800 cigarettes, it is only indicative and the law states a person can bring in tobacco for personal use. There is significant case law in the European and domestic courts that suggests that the burden of proof for us to establish cigarettes are not for personal use is very high. People can legally bring many thousands of cigarettes into the country for their own use.”

I was being sarcastic!

Alot more serious crimes happen Declan were people get assaulted or robbed they get a suspended sentence and community service. It will cost the tax payer €1800 a week to keep this woman in prison.