A Ramelton woman has avoided going to jail after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting an incident during which €70,000 of drugs were found in a car in Co Donegal.
Tanya Van Collier appeared at Donegal Circuit Court in connection with the incident.
The court was told that the 34-year-old was driving a car when it was stopped by Gardai on August 26th, 2022 at Listillion in Letterkenny.
Another man was in the car with Ms Van Collier.
The vehicle was searched and a quantity of €70,308 worth of cocaine was located in a pet food bag beneath some clothing in the car.
Amin Rhamahi, with an address at Hatfield Road, London, was previously jailed for three years with the balance of the sentence suspended from Wednesday last, April 24, for the possession of a controlled drug, namely cocaine, with the intention to sell or supply to others.
However, Ms Van Collier had claimed that she did not know that there were drugs in the car but said she thought the car contained sums of money which was being delivered.
The accused, with an address at Rough Park, Ramelton, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the commission of an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Garda Sergeant Maurice Doyle told the court that when arrested, Ms Van Collier, who is originally from South Africa, was interviewed six times and was very forthcoming.
She was in a relationship at the time with a man from Northern Ireland, now has two children but before this incident had no previous convictions, the court was told.
Barrister for Ms Van Collier, Mr Shane Costelloe, SC, said his client came to Ireland with a young daughter and was trying to make a better life for herself after the promise of a job here as a book-keeper.
The job never transpired, however, and found her destitute with no job, no money and was not entitled to work as she did not have emigration status in this country.
Mr Costelloe said his client became involved with people who were involved in drink and drug-taking and was offered money by them for various things.
He added that Ms Van Collier knew “something was going on” but thought it was the distribution of money and not drugs but she did suspect that this was a crime.
The accused now has no family support here as her older daughter, who is 18, has returned to South Africa.
She has nothing to do with the former peer group from which she got into trouble, has very little means and her only real social outlet is a mother and baby group which she attends.
Mr Costelloe asked Judge John Aylmer if he as willing to “stay your hand” then Ms Van Collier would welcome a chance to do community service so she could meet other people in a social sense.
Passing sentence, Judge Aylmer said that Ms Van Collier’s part in this incident was at the lower end of the scale but one which merited a sentence of 15 months in prison before mitigation.
He said he had to keep in mind her previous good character and her cooperation to a high degree although she was somewhat hesitant in early admissions.
Her probation report put her at certain risks but that was solely because of the absence of support around her but also stated that she was unlikely to come before the courts again.
In all those circumstances, Judge Aylmer said he was dealing with the case by way of community service and order Ms Van Collier to complete 200 hours in lieu of nine months in prison and gave 12 months to complete the service.