Sixty year old woman caught importing cigarettes

By Fiona Ferguson

A 60-year-old Canadian-Italian woman has slept in homeless accommodation and bus shelters since being caught last month evading excise duty on cigarettes at Dublin Airport, a court has heard.

Antonia Giuliana Pintus, who has a previous address in Rome, Italy was caught by custom officials with 19,920 cigarettes in her luggage with no Irish tax stamps after arriving in Dublin on a flight from Dubai. She spent 12 days in custody before being granted bail.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Pintus, who has no previous convictions, had fallen into financial difficulties in Italy and agreed to bring the cigarettes to Ireland in return for €1,000.

Pintus, a dual Canadian-Italian citizen, pleaded guilty to evasion of duty on the cigarettes at Dublin Airport, on April 17, 2024. The total value of the cigarettes was €16,280 and the loss of duty to the State was €8,954.

 Customs Officer Officer Mark Farrell told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that Pintus said a driver was to pick her up and she was to meet a person in Ireland to hand over the cigarettes.

The cigarettes were believed to be for onward sale in the United Kingdom.

Defence counsel, Leanora Frawley BL, said Pintus had been in economic difficulty after a lady she was working for as a home help in Italy died. Her client was offered this “opportunity” to travel to Dubai in return for a modest sum.

 She said Pintus has suffered a considerable ordeal since coming to Ireland, having spent 12 days in custody and living on the streets since her family put up the money for her bail. Her family also send money when they can for her to access homeless facilities. She has exhausted all the money that she has.

 Ms Frawley said her client’s 82-year-old mother was paying for her accommodation in Rome while she is away and they are hoping it will still be available to her when she returns. She hopes to return to work as a home help.

 She told the court her client was in a “very desperate situation.” She asked that her early guilty plea and previous good record be taken into account. She asked her client be allowed to return home.

 Passing sentence on Friday, Judge Orla Crowe said this was “a very unusual case and unusual accused.”

Judge Crowe said this case was a “a very vivid example” of how “a life that was law abiding can spiral out of control due to the lure of easy money”.

 The judge noted Pintus had an unblemished record and good work history prior to falling into financial difficulty.

Judge Crowe said the easy money promised had turned out to be not so easy, and in fact caused her nothing but difficulties. She noted Pintus has spent two weeks in custody and the remainder of the time homeless on the streets of Dublin, sleeping in bus shelters at the age of 60.

The judge imposed a six month sentence which she suspended in full and ordered her to be of good behaviour for 18 months.

Pintus told the judge she wanted to extend an apology to Ireland and to the people at the airport.