A CAUTION was issued at Waterford District Court yesterday to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children as a judge struck out a charge against the charity of holding an unauthorised collection.
The society, of Molesworth Street, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to being involved in the unauthorised collection in Waterford city on December 8th last.
At the end of the case Judge William Harnett struck out the charge but warned the ISPCC it should clarify the legal position on such collections in the Waterford area.
The court had been told by Sgt Denis Barry that he saw people putting £1 into a collection box and receiving a holly token in return. He asked a collector for her permit but what she produced was not adequate.
The national development officer with the ISPCC, Mr Jim Kennedy, told the court it did not have a permit and believed one was not needed to carry out fundraising work such as a holly sale. Mr Jeremy Meagher, defending, argued that it was not collecting but instead selling the holly for £1.
Insp Michael McGarry said there was £88.20 in the collection box and maintained the ISPCC was in breach of the Casual Trading Act.
There was, he acknowledged, a grey area which the legislators needed to sort out, but there had been complaints about abuses by professional collectors around the country.
Judge Harnett said he would strike out the charges and caution the society to clarify the legal position regarding the collections before it held another one in Waterford.