Louth grandmother (44) avoids jail for acting as ‘money mule’
A 44-year-old grandmother who acted as a “money mule” after a man asked her if she wanted to make a few quid, has received a fully suspended sentence.
Janice Judge, Irish Street, Ardee, Co. Louth, pleaded guilty to laundering €10,000 which was transferred to her bank on November 9, 2021, following a phone scam.
Drogheda Circuit Court heard that she was vulnerable at the time, her home having been petrol-bombed on a number of occasions, and was taken advantage of. She was promised €500 for her account details but got nothing.
Judge Sinéad McMullan remarked that unusually in these cases the bank was able to recall the €10,000 and thankfully there was no actual loss, the money having been transferred one from Bank of Ireland account to another.
News in 90 Seconds - April 25th 2026
Evidence was given that the victim received a text purporting to be from BOI indicating that there was a problem with his account and to click on a link, which he did.
When he logged in and saw nothing unusual, the man logged back out of what was a fake website to harvest his details.
A sum of €10,000 was transferred from the account, Janice Judge the payee.
Bank of Ireland froze the accounts and was able to recall the money.
The man reported the matter to his local Kilkenny Garda Station. The investigation was transferred to Drogheda gardaí and Gda Eoin Keane assigned the case in January, 2025.
He said that he arrested the defendant by arrangement on January 31.
Ms Judge told him that she was approached “by a lad I used to know and he asked if I wanted to make a few quid”.
She was offered €500 and gave her bank details.
The mother of two and grandmother to three continued that she was in a vulnerable position after her house was petrol bombed.
She told investigators that she was asked to take out the €10,000 but her card was frozen.
Ms Judge said she was just thinking of getting €500 which she didn’t receive. The other man knew her situation.
Gda Keane said that the defedant was pleased that the money had been returned. Drogheda gardaí were aware that her address was petrol bombed and that it had nothing to do with her.
She has four previous Road Traffic convictions which the court said were not relevant.
Barrister Ronan O’Carroll said that his client had been victim of a number of petrol bombings in 2018 after a family member “caused trouble to be visited to her door”.
This caused her to suffer from insomnia, anxiety and PTSD for which she was on a strict regime of medication.
Mr O’Carroll continued that Janice Judge had been taken advantage of. Her predicament was well known.
She was working with a major Irish charity which she did not want to name, and training online to become a healthcare assistant.
Judge McMullan said that while there was no actual loss, there was general harm to society and without people like Ms Judge giving their bank details nefarious characters would be unable to operate.
She was at the lower end of this type of offending, essentially a money mule. There had been an early guilty plea.
An 18 months sentence was imposed, fully suspended for 18 months.
Judge McMullan said she didn’t think that Ms Judge was the type of person that will come to court’s attention again. She has learned a lesson.