South African grandmother sentenced over child trafficking

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A South African grandmother received a partly suspended two-and-a-half-year sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 11 April 2019 for facilitating a child’s illegal entry into Ireland. She flew into Dublin Airport with the nine-year-old child and posed as the child’s mother at immigration control, using false documents and instructions sent through WhatsApp. The child cannot be identified.

The woman pleaded guilty to organising or knowingly facilitating the entry of a person she knew, or reasonably believed, was an illegal immigrant or intending asylum seeker. Judge Melanie Greally suspended the final 15 months on condition that she leave Ireland and never return; the court noted she did not know the child had been abducted by the father.