Twenty seven men charged with soliciting prostitutes in Limerick
Limerick District Court
TWENTY-seven men from across the Mid-West have been charged with soliciting prostitutes in Limerick city, following an operation by undercover female gardai over the past two months.
The men, whose ages range from their 30s to 60s, appeared before Limerick Court this Tuesday morning,
Twenty-one men pleaded guilty to the charge and were fined €470 each, while a further six men have had their cases adjourned.
The court heard that the men approached two undercover female gardai near Pery Square, Barrington Street, Catherine Street and Mallow Street in the city, as part of Operation Freewheel, on various dates this November and December.
The incidents were being monitored at all times by gardai nearby, who arrested the men and brought them to Henry Street and Roxboro Road garda stations.
Judge Eamon O’Brien told one defendant who approached the bench seeking legal aid: “If you can afford to pay for a lady of the night you can afford to pay for the services of the second oldest profession in the world, a lawyer.” Representing one defendant, solicitor Ted McCarthy said his client referred to the offence as a “mistake” and had no previous convictions.
Mr McCarthy said another client is a middle-aged man in full-time employment, and was “significantly embarrassed”, as he was never before the court previously and is a “man of good character.”
A 63-year-old farmer from county Limerick was among those charged, who said he was “extremely remorseful and embarrassed” and also had never come to the attention of gardai before.
Another man who pleaded guilty said: “I’m sorry.”
The majority of the men had no previous convictions, with the exception of minor road traffic offences.
The men were charged under section 7 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences Act, 1993), for soliciting or importuning a person for the purpose of prostitution.
Each were fined €470 to be paid to Doras Luimni, a local support group for all migrants, by March 13 next.
The group are set to receive up to €13,000 if the other men are convicted of the offences. A Russian interpreter is required for one of the cases, while a Polish national was also charged.
*For a comprehensive follow-up to this story see the Limerick Leader weekend edition
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Comments
There are 46 comments to this article
Page 1 of 4
James Janson
Friday, December 16, 2011 at 02:03 PMComment removed by moderator
Limerick Reporter
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 07:43 PMWell, to be fair the censorship allegation was a bit daft, along with a few others. Have to second 'Updwell''s remark - the most sensible voice yet
Humpty dumpty
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 04:56 PMLimerick reporter no need to be so insulting telling me to grow a pair etc.. How rude...
Limerick Reporter
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 04:12 PM@ Clay - I'm surprised all newspapers don't 'censor' comments on sites if this is the best (verbal diarrhea) people can come up with. Of the 40-odd comments here, how many people will feel strongly enough about their views to actually put pen to paperemail and submit a letter to the editor under their own names? Very few I imagine. Time to grow a pair and a forget about the paranoid conspiracy theories.
Leader Editorial
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 04:06 PM@Clay - that was a technical error on our part and it was not meant as "censorship" as you (incorrectly) state. That situation has now been rectified and you can comment on that other story if you so wish. However, comments will continue to be monitored and anything inflammatory or abusive will be removed. We strongly encourage and welcome commentary on our stories, but we retain the right to edit comments as we see fit. Web Admin.
Humpty dumpty
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 03:39 PMI love how the Limerickleader.ie has another story up on this site now about the men being suicidal AND you CANNOT comment on the story! Censoring the public again eh?
AOwens
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 12:40 PM@Bock - the judge DID make that statement in court, it was not "anecdotal evidence" or "an assumption".
Limerick Reporter
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 12:18 PMThe Limerick Leader DID NOT publish the names either online or in any of the papers.
loo99car
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 11:26 AMCorrect me if i am wrong but the Limerick leader did publish the names. ages and adresses on ts Online edition and then took them off.
Sabrina 101
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 01:43 AMThat should be: www.scot-pep.org.uk(forward slash)33reasons.html The characters change when you post!
Sabrina 101
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 01:39 AMThat should be: www.scot-pep.org.uk33reasons.html
Sabrina 101
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 01:32 AMWell said Updwell and Clay. Read the following which highlights how retrograde and how much of a bedroom police it is to criminalise the clients of sex workers: www.scot-pep.org.uk33reasons.html
updwell
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 06:24 PMI would just like to know after seeing todays Limerick Leader headlines (which read MEN SUICIDAL AFTER STING) do the people on here who think it was fair to name and shame the 27 men still feel the same way.
Humpty dumpty
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 04:24 PMSigh.... It's sad to me that people like Limericklady are still so much in the dark ages. Her attitude continues to send Ireland backwards. Also the gardai handled this all wrong. Nothing more important to "police" around town?
Sabrina 101
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 01:38 PMA certain journalist who used to work for this paper needs to stop painting all people with the same brush. It just shows how biased some are in the media. Fair play to others for standing up to her. Does she know every sex worker and every client of sex workers? Not all escorts are victims. Not all clients of escorts are exploitative. Are all Irish people alcoholics and all English people football hooligans? Many visit sex workers because they might have a disability or an issue with confidence. There is either consent or there isn't consent and it doesn't matter whether there is money involved or not. What's next criminalise adult material on the tv and internet? As for people who play the daughter card they are like the interfering busy bodies who didn't want to see, know or hear about unmarried mothers in the past. We'll find others who are making a stand against this nonsense on Turn Off The Blue Light.
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