A South African woman whose husband was murdered and who was rearing five young children has been jailed for six years by Judge Frank O'Donnell for importing drugs.
Rejoice Ncubie (42), of Ana Capri, St Andrew’s Street, Durban was struggling financially after being made redundant by South African Airlines where she had been a ground hostess.
Ncubie was found to have herbal cannabis herb valued at more than £50,000 and pleaded guilty to possession of over £10,000 worth of the drug for sale or supply on May 16th, 2001.
Gda Jim O'Driscoll said Ncubie had two children by her husband who was murdered in 1993, and also looked after one of her sister's as well as two others whose parents deserted them.
Judge O'Donnell said he felt great sympathy for Ncubie as a struggling mother but he didn't want a message going back to South Africa that Irish courts were very lenient in these cases.
Ncubie was stopped at immigration control at Dublin Airport after getting off a plane from Johannesburg via Paris. She was unable to satisfy officials with the reasons for her entry.
She told them she was waiting for her bag and when it came through a search revealed 25 kilos of cannabis hidden in a concealed section.
She told gardaí she met a man called 'James' who offered to send her on a holiday to Dublin if she carried a package for him. She didn't ask what was in it.
Mr Patrick Marrinan SC, for Ncubie, pleaded with Judge O'Donnell for leniency because of her early guilty and her cooperation with the gardai following her arrest. He also said that any sentence she had to serve would be much harder than most because of her non-national status.