A WOMAN who bought goods worth €600 with counterfeit notes had her case adjourned last week for the production of a Probation Report.
Castlebar District Court heard that Ellen Sweeney of 5, Bog Road, Ballinrobe, purchased a range of goods valued at more than €579 at Tesco in Ballinrobe. She used 12 counterfeit 50 Euro notes and received €12.97 in change.
Judge Mary Devins adjourned her case until March 16.
The court heard that retail staff at the store confirmed they believed the notes were fake as soon as they were tendered, but due to the volume of goods being purchased they felt intimidated and were afraid to approach her.
Garda Aiden Connaughton said that security staff had also viewed Ms Sweeney tendering the notes on CCTV but they decided to wait until the transaction was complete so that they could prove that an offence had taken place.
Ellen Sweeney was a single mother of two young children and defending solicitor Aidan Crowley said that she was expecting her second child at the time of the offence and that money was an issue.
Ms Sweeney alleged that a man in his thirties had approached her and asked her if she had heard about the counterfeit notes that were in circulation and subsequently offered her €600 of counterfeit notes in exchange for €100 of genuine tender. The man also said to her, “You never saw me OK”.
Ms Sweeney said she agreed to the exchange and then proceeded to enter Tesco before using the offending notes to purchase the goods.
Ms Sweeney alleges that she had never seen this man before and did not know his identity. Judge Mary Devins considered the evidence and asked for a probation report before adjourning the case until March 16.
