Courts / Wexford / Report

Midwife's suspended sentence for moving crime cash is upheld

Date
2021-02-04

Stage
Appeal

Primary locality
Wexford

County
Wexford

Summary

Samantha Sinnott, a 41‑year‑old midwife from Hilltown, Ballymitty, pleaded guilty in 2019 to concealing €109,890 she knew was the proceeds of crime. She moved the money from her partner's house to her own home after hearing that men had been arrested in Wexford. Sinnott admitted to emptying a safe in a concrete floor, taking the cash in two bags, and later confiding in Gardaí, claiming she believed the money belonged to her partner and that she acted to protect him. She entered an early guilty plea and cooperated with officers. The Court of Appeal upheld her 12‑month suspended sentence, finding her actions were a sudden, unpremeditated error of judgment and that she was a generally law‑abiding citizen with no prior convictions. The appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions was dismissed, and Sinnott's subsequent High Court challenge against her dismissal from Wexford General Hospital is noted but not resolved in this article.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Midwife's suspended sentence for moving crime cash is upheld. Charges or matters: concealing €109,890 which she knew to be the proceeds of crime at her partner's home in Slevoy, Foulksmills, Co Wexford on September 22, 2018. Procedural stage: appeal

When:

September 22, 2018 Incident
2021-02-04 Publication

Why: She admitted that she had discovered the money and removed it because she believed it belonged to her partner. CNI source report

Case subjects

Samantha Sinnott

Applicant

Charges: concealing €109,890 which she knew to be the proceeds of crime at her partner's home in Slevoy, Foulksmills, Co Wexford on September 22, 2018 (Alleged Or Contested)

Outcome: The Court of Appeal said it was of the view that the mother-of five's appeal was one of those "rare cases", which fell into the exceptional category in which a wholly suspended sentence was within the appropriate range of the sentencing judge's discretion. Ms Gleeson pointed out that the sentencing judge had given a headline sentence of two and a half years for Sinnott's offence and after taking into account the mitigating factors, he imposed a sentence of 12 months imprisonment, suspended in its entirety.