HANGOVER BRIDE
Mum didn’t realise she was legally married in drunken Las Vegas ceremony
A WOMAN was so drunk she didn’t realise she had got legally married in Las Vegas, a court heard yesterday.
In a case compared by a judge to comedy film The Hangover, mum-of-four Michelle Burke went through the ceremony with her boyfriend “for a laugh”.
The 39-year-old, from Finglas, North Dublin, discovered it was valid when she was accused of unlawfully claiming €30,000 in one parent family benefits.
Ms Burke, who was cleared of fraud, told the court: “We were drunk. I just thought it was funny to do it. I honestly didn’t think it was legal.”
A MOTHER who claimed her drunken Las Vegas wedding was “a bit of fun” did not know it was valid in Ireland, a court heard yesterday.
Michelle Burke, 39, was cleared of unlawfully obtaining almost €30,000 in one parent family social welfare payments after a judge compared the case to hit comedy The Hangover.
At Dublin District Court, Judge John Brennan added the marriage was valid but accepted she could rely on an “honest though unreasonable belief ” defence. The alleged fraud had totalled €29,773 and the prosecution claimed she got married and failed to notify the Department of Social Protection while claiming payments between November 2010 and August 2012. If convicted she would have faced a possible sixmonth jail term or a fine of up to €2,500.
The trial heard she had been in receipt of the one parent family benefit since 1997.
Evidence was given in March and Judge Brennan adjourned the case until yesterday to give his verdict.
The court had heard the accused was getting €317 a week.
Reviews were conducted and Ms Burke, from Cappagh Road, Finglas, North Dublin, signed declarations that she had not got married.
A social welfare officer said there was a suspicion she may have been cohabiting with a partner.
The inspector obtained a copy of a marriage certificate that found Ms Burke got married to her partner on November 6, 2010, at the Hollywood Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.
Her payment was stopped but she said she did not think the nuptials were legal.
She also said her partner, who was not the father of her children, paid tax and then lived at a different address in Dublin. The mother of four had claimed she had gone to the US with a large group for a 30th birthday party for her brother’s friend.
Asked why she did not remember much about the ceremony, she replied: “Because we were drunk.”
Ms Burke agreed the marriage certificate had her address and date of birth as well as her partner’s details and they had to hand over their passports beforehand.
The court heard the couple were now claiming a family allowance.
A defence lawyer cited a Supreme Court ruling by Mr Justice Charlton that an “honest though unreasonable belief ” was a defence.
Social welfare authorities have a mechanism to recoup money even after a case has been finalised.
At a hearing in June last year the court had heard Ms Burke had paid back €2,200 by that stage.
She was paying it at a rate of €22 a week.