A judge has described as "an absurdity " a maximum penalty of €127 for illegal gaming after he convicted the directors of a Dublin amusement arcade of operating poker machines in contravention of a ban introduced in the 1980s.
"It is ridiculous to have a maximum fine of €127, an absurdity, a waste of time," Judge Desmond Windle said when he convicted Southwell Investment Company Ltd, trading as Ned Kelly's, Upper O'Connell Street. The company denied allowing the premises to be used for illegal gaming.
Dublin District Court was told that a man who played the machines complained to gardaí after he lost €787 in two days. Mr Paul Goodwin told the court he made the complaint because the machine odds were "stacked against the player".
He had "lost thousands" over the years because of this. "My complaint is that they illegally took money from me," he said.When he won, he was paid by telling a cashier that he had won so many credits on the machine he was using.
The court heard that following the complaint, a Garda inspector called to the premises and counted 46 similar machines. In later interviews with the directors, Mr Desmond and Mr Noel O'Hara, they admitted Mr Goodwin had played the machines.
Mr Desmond O'Hara told the inspector: "He knew the machine was illegal but he is an adult and should not have been playing." Mr Noel O'Hara said if Mr Goodwin had been given money by the cashier, "then he must have got it".
The company had Revenue licences for 50 "amusement machines" but not for gambling machines as these have been banned since 1988.The defence argued that the machines were in fact for amusement but did not go into evidence.
Judge Windle said this was "a flagrant abuse" of the law. He did not know why the Revenue granted licences for them as this was "only a temptation". He imposed two fines of €127 for each of the days Mr Goodwin played and awarded him €100 witness expenses.