Women who sold banned slimming tablets avoid jail

Two women who imported thousands of banned and dangerous slimming tablets they unlawfully sold online have been spared jail sentences.

Yesterday, Sharon Edwards, aged 33, and Tara McEvoy, aged 40, from Donomore Avenue, Tallaght, Dublin, were each fined €500 after they pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to breaking medicinal products regulations.

Judge John O’Neill heard they imported what they believed were “100% herbal” remedies called Lida and Botanical Soft Gel Capsules. The products were bought over the internet and turned out to contain a controversial drug called Sibutramine which has been withdrawn from markets across the world due to health risk fears.