A woman has been jailed for 18 months after a judge told her she cannot use her children as “a shield” from the consequences of her criminality.
Heather McNamara (40), a mother of three from Childers Road, Ennis, Co Clare, pleaded guilty to money laundering connected to the drug dealing activity of her jailed partner, Paul Collopy.
Ennis Circuit Court heard Collopy is the father of McNamara’s two-year-old son. He started serving a 10-year sentence for drug dealing before the child’s birth and is not due for release until 2028.
McNamara pleaded guilty to a money laundering offence concerning €37,965, which was the proceeds of crime, in May 2021 at two locations in Ennis. She also pleaded guilty to another money laundering offence concerning cash of €5,445 and a Rolex watch valued at €17,500. She also pleaded guilty to the possession of €4,872 of cocaine on the same date.
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Det Sgt Denis Stack told the court that as long as he has known McNamara “she has always had nice cars” and “a good lifestyle”. The court heard McNamara does not work and receives €312 per week in social welfare.
Judge Francis Comerford said McNamara could not use her children “as a shield” after she told the court her toddler would face “awful trauma” if she was jailed. She said the father of her older children, aged 17 and 21, died recently and she worried about their welfare also.
He said McNamara was not entitled to engage in crime or be seen as “immune from any sanctions from the courts” because she has children. She has another conviction for money laundering from 2014 related to a sum of €68,000. Judge Comerford said she has engaged in “significant repeated wrong doing”.
Judge Comerford imposed a 50 month prison term, but suspended 32 months due to the impact the sentence would have on her children. He said the warrant for McNamara to be taken into custody would not take effect until January 12th.
