Revenue offices.
A Wicklow woman who sold tobacco through Facebook Marketplace has been fined €3,444 after a confidential tip-off to Revenue.
Emily O’Callaghan (49), with an address at Old Conna Grove, Bray, appeared at a sitting of Bray District Court on a summons brought by Revenue.
She pleaded guilty to having tobacco that appeared to be intended for illegal sale or delivery.
State solicitor Brian Robinson told the court that Judge Aine Shannon had accepted jurisdiction in the matter on February 9.
The court heard that in September, Revenue received a confidential report that someone was selling tobacco through Facebook Marketplace.
An operation was carried out in which an undercover investigator purchased four pouches of rolling tobacco for €100 from the accused.
Revenue later seized 3,800 cigarettes and 1.4kg of rolling tobacco from Ms O’Callaghan.
She admitted purchasing the tobacco on Irish Ferries, but said she did not sell it commercially, claiming it was for personal use and for friends.
Revenue offices.
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Mr Robinson told the court that the offence carries a maximum penalty of €5,000 and a minimum fine of €2,500.
Solicitor for Ms O’Callaghan, Joe Maguire, said his client is a mother-of-four and the sole carer for her child who has autism.
He said her child enjoys boat trips, which led her to regularly purchase cigarettes during ferry crossings.
It was noted that Ms O’Callaghan “is a smoker herself”, and that selling the tobacco had become “a means of funding the trip with her child and supplementing her income”.
Judge David Kennedy fined Ms O’Callaghan €3,444, which represented the loss to the State through unpaid tax on the tobacco. He gave her 12 months to pay.
Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme