Judge (Episode 9064)

The unnamed Judge sentenced Maria Connor in court in December 2016 after she had pleaded guilty of helping an illegal immigrant Pablo Duarte stay in the country through the means of a fraudulent marriage.

Maria's defence barrister, Mr Martin, pleaded in mitigation, saying that she had learned her lesson and he asked for leniency in view of the circumstances of the case and her previous good conduct. The Judge had read the pre-sentencing reports, saw no need to retire and therefore gave her verdict: agreeing with the point about her good record, the judge pointed out that Maria had made no profit from the arrangement with Pablo, and believed she would never repeat the offence in the future, nevertheless she felt that the court had to send out an unambiguous message to deter anyone else from considering the same act and so handed the shocked woman a twelve-month custodial sentence.