Pretended to collect for charity

A woman who pretended to collect donations for a suicide charity has been told she should be ashamed of herself if she had any shame.

Helena Joyce ( 24) of Westfield House, Mullingar, pleaded guilty to two counts of collecting public money without a permit and acting as a collector without authorisation on May 13th 2016 at Rockwood Parade.

Inspector Paul Kilcoyne told the court that Gardaí received a report at 10.40pm that night to say two people were collecting for the Suicide Aware charity in a pub. Both women said they had permits and had collected ¤ 157.

The court heard Joyce has three previous convictions, including for collecting without a permit.

Judge Kilrane gave Joyce a three month suspended sentence for a “most despicable crime preying on the goodwill of people.” “You should be ashamed of yourself if you have any shame,” he told her.