Judge confiscates €30,000 found on couple at Dublin Airport

A judge at Dublin's Circuit Criminal Court has confiscated more than €30,000 from a couple who were found with the cash at Dublin Airport.

The money has been forfeited to the State after the judge said he was satisfied the money was intended for criminal activity.

Customs officers at the airport found the money on 38-year-old Wayne O'Sullivan of Cedar Avenue, Kingswood, Tallaght on December 7, 2010 as he was about to board a flight to the UK.

Judge Martin Nolan accepted the cash belonged to Sullivan's girlfriend, 36-year-old Jean Lynch of The Glade, St Wolston’s Avenue, Cellbridge, in Kildare, after she secured a loan from a UK lending company to buy a car.

However Judge Nolan noted that Ms Lynch was not in court, and had not provided an affidavit. Further, the director of the company who lent the money was not in court and had not filed an affidavit, or instigated any proceedings to get his money back.

Judge Nolan said the explanation "had too many holes in it to be believed".