Vegas nuptials were just ‘for a laugh’ claims mother of four

A MOTHER on trial for unlawfully obtaining almost €30,000 in oneparent family social welfare payments has claimed her drunken Las Vegas wedding was just ‘a bit of fun’ and she did not know it was legal in Ireland.

Hearing the case at Dublin District Court, Judge John Brennan compared it to the 2009 comedy film The Hangover, starring Bradley Cooper, about the misadventures of a group of men at a bachelor party in Las Vegas.

Mother-of-four Michelle Burke, 39, from Cappagh Road, Finglas, Dublin 11, is being prosecuted by the Department of Social Protection.

In court she claimed she had gone to America for a few days with a group of 16 or 17 for a 30th birthday party. Questioned by her barrister about the marriage ceremony she claimed: ‘We just thought it was funny,’ and it was ‘for a laugh’. ‘I honestly didn’t think it was legal.’

Asked why she did not remember much about the ceremony, she replied: ‘Because we were drunk.’

The total alleged fraud was €29,773 and it was the prosecution’s case that she got married and failed to notify the department while claiming the One Parent Family Payment between November 2010 and August 2012, which she denies.

The trial heard she had been in receipt of the payment since 1997. A social welfare inspector said Ms Burke was getting €317 a week.

The inspector told the trial that in 2011 and in 2013 case reviews were conducted and Ms Burke was sent forms enquiring if her circumstances had changed but she signed declarations that she had not got married, nor was she living with a partner.

However, an investigation produced a copy of the marriage certificate from the US which confirmed Ms Burke got married to her current partner on November 6, 2010, at the Hollywood Wedding Chapel, Las Vegas, in Nevada.

The case is due to resume in May. If found guilty, Ms Burke could face a fine of up to €2,500 and a possible six-month sentence in addition to having to repay the social welfare authorities.