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Oxfam, Focus and Garda Trust all benefit from €2m 'Poor Box' fund

The ‘Poor Box’ option can be used by judges for a variety of reasons, including cases where a conviction might be inappropriate or adversely affect employment.

NEW FIGURES FROM the Courts Service detailing some €2 million paid out to charities from the courts ‘Poor Box’ show that Oxfam Ireland was the biggest beneficiary of the fund in 2012.

The charity received €126,200 from the courts system, with five other organisations also receiving donations above €50,000: they were the Friends of St. Patrick’s, the Cappuchin Day Centre, Sightsavers International, the Christian Blind Mission and Action Aid Ireland.

The Garda Benevolent Trust Fund, Aware and the Jack and Jill Foundation were all inside the top 20, and received donations of over €20,000 each.

Overall, €2,009,445 was paid out to over 700 charities, groups and individuals over the 12 month period, the Courts Service confirmed.

Historical precedent

The practice of courts directing that money be paid into a poor box in lieu of, or in conjunction with another penalty, is a practice that pre-dates the foundation of the State.

It’s predominantly used by the District Courts who deal with criminal offences of a less serious nature than other jurisdictions.  The individual amounts can vary substantially depending on factors like ability to pay, other penalties imposed and the nature of the offences committed.

The option is generally used where the offence is minor in nature and wouldn’t attract a jail sentence. It’s most frequently used by judges dealing with public order offences, including breaches of the peace, disorderly conduct or failure to comply with a direction from the gardaí

It’s also sometimes utilised for road traffic incidents — last month, Monegall resident and eighth cousin of Barack Obama  Henry Healy was ordered to pay €500 into the Poor Box after pleading guilty to careless driving in May of last year.  The judge in the case described him as a man who had “an impeccable record in terms of road safety” and “an impeccable record of service to the Irish State”.

A spokesperson for the Courts Service said there were many reasons the poor-box option may be used, including cases where the accused had never previously been before the courts or where a conviction might be inappropriate, or might adversely affect employment.

The Law Reform Commission recommended in 2005 that the operation of the poor box be put on a statutory footing and updated in the context of a reformed Probation of Offenders Act, which covers cases where offenders are considered unlikely to be in trouble with the law again.

Judge Catherine McGuinness, a former chair of the Commission, said the body had made a number of recommendations to make the system more accountable.

“We felt was that it was a fairly arbitary system,” McGuinness told Newstalk Breakfast.

“But it has its virtues certainly — the Commission recommended that it should be put on a statutory basis that would make it more transparent and that there would be proper rules.

“It was recommended that rather than leaving it to individual judges to decide what charities would benefit, all the money should be paid into one pot and a committee should be set up to administer that and decide which charities should benefit.”

McGuinness said that while the list of the top 20 organisations named in the 2012 list were all “highly virtuous”, some “rather odd” choices of charity had been made by judges over the years.

Read: Two men and two women arrested over Lamb Alley assault

Read: Charities, revised estimates and everything else happening in Leinster House today

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12 Comments
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    Mute Alan McBride
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 5:30 PM

    He shouldn’t get out at all but at least its a fairly long sentence. Not as long as the victims though. RIP. If it were here he’d probably be sentenced to 12 years with 9 suspended and be out in 18 months with good behaviour. Only a slight exaggeration!

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    Mute Aoife McFadden
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 7:08 PM

    Easy words for you to spit of your righteous mouth but I’m afraid Alan that it is God who makes the final judgement and we are ALL God’s children, even those who stray and commit horrendous crimes like rape and murder. The question to ask is how can a child of God stray so far from the righteous path? Simple… Without the sanctity of Christ in your heart and without the moral integrity which comes from The Church, any of can and do stray. Unfortunately for Mr. Whant, he crossed a line which is near impossible to recover from. Still, through the grace of God and through confession he can come to let Christ enter his heart and be fully absolved. I pray for him.

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    Mute Adrian De Cleir
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 7:42 PM

    That sounds like a pretty cool story aofie, please tell us more.

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    Mute Chris Fogarty
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 7:48 PM

    Where was God when he committed those crimes? Nowhere to be found.

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    Mute Brian Ó Dálaigh
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 7:52 PM

    @ Aoife – where was your merciful God for poor Nikitta?

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    Mute Declan O'Neill
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 8:32 PM

    Ugh, Aoife can you pass me a bucket!

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    Mute Sheila Murphy
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 8:35 PM

    Hi Aoife; after much reflection and thought over a long time period, I realised that I could no longer consider myself Catholic and would opt out if the option was available to me, so therefore I would be a person that you (from your comment) would consider does not “have Jesus in my heart”. However there is absolutely no way I would commit a deed like this or even anything less than or like it. Jesus in one’s heart (or not) has nothing to do with this type of terrible atrocity that the perpetrator committed. Therefore to me your comment has absolutely no logic.

    I’m glad for you if you find your faith a comfort and a support.But just because someone has jesus in their heart does not preclude them from carrying out terrible deeds.

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    Mute Rommel Burke
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 8:39 PM

    Aoife, why not give up preaching for Lent?

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 10:01 PM

    Aoife, you are bonkers. It’s that simple.

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    Mute ponythegringo
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 11:29 PM

    @ Adrian De Cleir , i have a pain in me belly from your comment, laughing so much , thank you

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    Mute Randy savage
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    Feb 23rd 2012, 12:27 AM

    aoife you make me sick to my stomach, what a wicked thing for you to say.

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    Mute Stadler Waldorf
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    Feb 23rd 2012, 2:50 AM

    @Aoife Please crawl back under your rock and bring your sanctimonious preaching with you

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    Mute Michael Russell
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 5:32 PM

    Only 35 years? Why can’t these judges hand out “for the reminder of life” sentences?

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    Mute Brendan Crowe
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 7:22 PM

    @Aoife I think for you to link morality and the church is absurd. I don’t believe in God. but being a good person is my Religion. the guy is obviously a psychopath and no amount of praying will change that. He deserves to be locked up for 35 years, He chose to do what he did. We are all responsible for our actions

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    Mute Nora Butler
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 7:34 PM

    Aoife are you for real? That girl (RIP) parents got to see their unborn grandchild (RIP) on a mortuary slab and you are praying for him…. I think I’m going to have to pray for you!!!!

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    Mute Ciaro
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 6:15 PM

    He picked the wrong country, if he was convicted in Ireland he would be released in 12 years at the most.

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    Mute Opinion Ated
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 7:33 PM

    I’d pray for the dead mother and her unborn baby myself Aoife. He’ll have plenty of time to pray for himself in the next 35 years.

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    Mute Red Ed
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 6:18 PM

    35 years should mean 35 years even if he dies in prison they should bury him there until his time is served. That would help prevent crimes this gruesome from occurring.

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    Mute Shanners
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 8:04 PM

    Aoife had found a very successful trolling tactic.

    35 years is a proper sentence. not enough, but much better than the ridiculous sentences handed out here.

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    Mute James Halford
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 8:56 PM

    Deserves the death penalty if you ask me. Sick bastard. Hope he rots in prison.

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    Mute Joan Featherstone
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 9:02 PM

    Relax Aoife is a troll, she couldn’t be for real!!!!

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    Mute Mary Cullinane
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 9:32 PM

    @aoife I’m afraid your thinking totally defies logic, I know very many people who do not believe in God and who most definitely are not part of any specific Church & they are all very good living people who’s main aim in life is to treat others as they would like to be treated. I believe in a Spiritual Being, call it God or whatever but I also know that I have a choice in life of making up my own mind as to what path I take…..that’s what free will is, we all have a conscience and it is up to each of us to follow our conscience as we see fit & a person who commits a crime of this nature to me is totally evil true & true. You can contemplate forever about what made him that way but to say that it is because he doesn’t go the path of being part of a Church or that he doesn’t have God in his heart is rubbish, if as you say we are all God’s children is true, then why didn’t God intervene & prevent this man doing this terrible deed? free will & the freedom to follow our own conscience is the reason & like all things in life we all have to take responsibility for our own actions.

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    Mute Sean Mc Avinue
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 8:53 PM

    The penalty is not 35 years, that is judged by the prisoners as they have their own court. That’s his main fear

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    Mute Randy savage
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    Feb 23rd 2012, 12:31 AM

    This utter guttertrash subhuman scumbag should ride the lighting for what he has done. Man i get so p…d off when i read this stuff and then the likes of Aoife bleeding heart liberal dancing at the cross roads with the parish priest wants to pray for this piece of crap. Id love to meet this guy and knock seven maybe even eight shades of shite out of him. apologies for the minor bad language but im so angry at this story.

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    Mute Helen Clinton
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    Feb 23rd 2012, 12:56 AM

    Well said Randy. I couldn’t agree more.

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    Mute Lin Waring
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    Feb 23rd 2012, 8:51 PM

    Well said…….Maybe, Aoife wouldnt be so quick to forgive this awful scum if it was his family that had been affected……xx

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    Mute jimmy
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    Feb 24th 2012, 12:24 AM

    here here ! comment of the day randy !

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    Mute Adam Cullen
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    Feb 23rd 2012, 12:27 AM

    Funny considering how some of the worst atrocities known to man have been committed in the name of God!

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    Mute Eoin Hennebry
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    Feb 22nd 2012, 11:53 PM

    Aoife???? Actually like???? I hope somebody out there is praying for you!! Crazy logic!!

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    Mute SirRichie Van Piimpp
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    Feb 23rd 2012, 9:03 AM

    It is amazing, with a dreadful story like above… everyone focuses on a comment made my a troll (I think)

    Get off yer high horses and loose the religious stance…. this murder/rape is a terrible act and we should all rally around in support rather than blasting a troll…

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    Mute Deirdre Forde
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    Feb 23rd 2012, 10:32 AM

    Couldn’t agree more. My thoughts are with her family.

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    Mute Francis Hoban
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    Feb 23rd 2012, 6:56 AM

    This women is as cracked as an egg but that’s not the point all thoughts should for that poor family

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    Mute Séa Graham
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    Feb 23rd 2012, 8:51 AM

    @Aoife. get help. I pity your children and the brainwashing they must be going through.

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    Mute Jessica Armstrong
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    Feb 24th 2012, 2:22 AM

    how can some1 do that and NOT get a death sentence whats wrong with the justice system it amazes me sumtimes

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    Mute Pa McGarry
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    Feb 23rd 2012, 9:12 AM

    The troll is moon

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