Prime Time

smelltheglove

I am just watching Prime Time and shocked to see the issue on smuggling cigarettes. When I think Minister Lenihan was questioned about why smugglers were not taken through the courts he answered by saying that the dpp can only cope with so many cases and if they followed each case through the courts would soon be clogged up....

so are we now settling with letting criminals away just to save the dpp some hassle???

SeaFields

i think it was the customs official that said that rather than lenihan although the judge that fined someone 13c for €16k worth of cigarettes should be kicked out of the judiciary (without a state pension!)

leitrim lad

the judge in the court room is to blame

i say impose a jail term on one smuggler and the rest will cop on or follow suit

SeaFields

well prime time just showed the faces of several smugglers in their report. a nice starting place for customs to start although after having their faces on national television i imagine there are an awful lot of cigarettes being flushed down those peoples toilets right now!:D

leitrim lad

i would say the smugglers takings are down a bit with every building site in the country shut down

mikemac

smelltheglove wrote: »

When I think Minister Lenihan was questioned about why smugglers were not taken through the courts he answered by saying that the dpp can only cope with so many cases and if they followed each case through the courts would soon be clogged up....

so are we now settling with letting criminals away just to save the dpp some hassle???

You can blame Minister Lenihan for a lot of things but in fairness, it was the head of the customs service who said that.

smelltheglove

I didnt actually see who said it as I was working on the lap top, I just thought it may have been Lenihan.

I heard of people knocking on doors selling cigarettes at one stage, I doubt they care who they sell to either and they will just keep doing it if this is the attitude of the courts.

Zynks

leitrim lad wrote: »

the judge in the court room is to blame

i say impose a jail term on one smuggler and the rest will cop on or follow suit

If that is not a deterrent for people bringing drugs into the country, why would it work with smokes?

leitrim lad

sorry i forgot that the drug dealers branch into this field aswell every consignment of heroin contains a couple hundred thousand fags ,it is a problem that will never be done away with

no matter what penalties are incurred

deelite

I've stopped watching Prime Time as I thought it was "live", but it's recorded earlier in the evening - it's gone down in my estimation

Heinrich

deelite wrote: »

I've stopped watching Prime Time as I thought it was "live", but it's recorded earlier in the evening - it's gone down in my estimation

+1