Latest news with #LauraMurphy
Sunday World
4 days ago
- Sunday World
Couple who run heating oil company caught with 160,000 counterfeit cigarettes
SMOKED OUT | While Laura Murphy walked free after her four month jail sentence was suspended, her husband William was ordered to serve six months in prison Fraudsters William and Laura Murphy who were sentenced today While 32-year-old Laura Murphy walked free from Antrim Crown Court after her four month jail sentence was suspended for three years, her husband William (49) was ordered to serve his six month sentence in prison. Judge Alistair Devlin said he was distinguishing between the pair because Mrs Murphy had 'played a somewhat lesser role' in the offending. At an earlier hearing the couple, both from Craig's Road in Cullybackey, admitted that on 4 July 2023 they acquired possession of prohibited goods, namely 160,018 cigarettes, 'with intent to defraud His Majesty of any duty payable on the goods, or to evade any such prohibition or restriction.' They also admitted to being 'knowingly concerned in carrying, removing, depositing, harbouring, keeping or concealing, or in any manner dealing with the goods and that you did so so with intent to defraud His Majesty of any duty payable on the said goods, or to evade any such prohibition or restriction with respect to the said goods.' They further admitted they were 'knowingly concerned in, or in the taking of steps with a view to, the fraudulent evasion of VAT.' In his sentencing remarks today, Judge Devlin outlined that when HMRC officers attended the couple's business Town Fuels Ltd to test fuels they had stored, one of the officers spotted a blue Ford Transit van parked in a shed. 'It appeared to contain 15-16 boxes stored in the rear,' said the judge adding that when the couple were asked about it, Mr Murphy said it was 'nothing' while his wife said she was just about to the their children out in the van. The court heard when the HMRC officers examined the van however, they uncovered 16 boxes of Lambert & Butler cigarettes and Judge Devlin added that as well as not having duty paid stamps on them, it also transpired the cigarettes were 'entirely counterfeit.' In total, HMRC seized 160,000 cigarettes and the judge told the court that taking into account duty and VAT payable, there was a total loss to the Exchequer of £80,728. Despite their claims the cigarettes were for personal use, Judge Devlin said even if the pair smoked day after day, the haul 'would have lasted more than 10 years.' Fraudsters William and Laura Murphy who were sentenced today News in 90 seconds - June 2nd The judge was scathing in his comments regarding the approach taken by the couple, highlighting how they had given little cooperation to the investigation or of how they came to have the cigarettes or what they intended to do with them. He said while Mr Murphy claimed to a probation officer, after he admitted his guilt, that he was to be paid £400 to store the illegal cigarettes, 'the truth of that is completely impossible for the police to investigate or accept, given the grossly late stage that has been offered.' Describing the claim as potentially a 'cynical attempt to minimise his own role,' Judge Devlin said despite Mr Murphy's efforts to persuade the court 'just to take his word for it…the problem with that is that this defendant has shown himself as an individual whose word cannot be trusted.' 'Lies were told by the defendants,' the judge added so in circumstances where there is a doubt, 'that doubt should not be taken in their favour.' He told the court that apart from the loss to the Exchequer, the cigarettes in this case were counterfeit so while lawful cigarettes are harmful enough, 'manufacturers of counterfeit cigarettes are not likely to use quality materials' so they would be even more harmful. Judge Devlin said the authorities were clear in that deterrent sentences were called for in all but exceptional cases. In Mr Murphy case, he told the court 'I can find no such exceptionality' so he ordered him to serve his six month sentence in jail but Mrs Murphy, who is the primary carer of their children and her mother and who played a lesser role, had her four month sentence suspended for three years.
The 42
17-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Leinster camogie finalists change into skorts under protest
Leinster Camogie Finals Senior Kilkenny 0-20 Wexford 1-6 Intermediate Carlow 2-9 Laois 1-8 Tailteann Cup Round 2 Group 1 Tipperary 1-11 Kildare 3-19 Group 2 Waterford 1-13 Offaly 1-18 Wicklow 0-21 Laois 0-16 Group 3 Antrim 1-10 Limerick 1-18 Joe McDonagh Cup Round 4 Down 2-26 Kerry 2-19 Westmeath 4-22 Carlow 7-23 Advertisement **** ALL FOUR TEAMS who contested today's Leinster camogie finals changed into skorts after appearing on the field in shorts, as the ongoing protest continues. Kilkenny were crowned senior champions while Carlow secured the intermediate crown at Netwatch Cullen Park, with both sets of players wearing skorts in the matches alongside their respective opponents Wexford and Laois. All four finalists released a joint statement via the GPA earlier this week, indicating that they would tog out in shorts for the finals, but would change into skorts under protest if instructed to ensure that the games would not be postponed. The statement added the players 'do not consent to any photography or video to be taken of the matches themselves,' as part of the protest. The teams completed their warm-ups in shorts before changing into skorts ahead of throw-in. The scenes come ahead of the Camogie Association Special Congress in Croke Park on 22 May where motions addressing the skorts issue will be considered. Carlow won the curtain-raiser to become Leinster intermediate champions after getting the better of Laois before Kilkenny dispatched Wexford in the senior decider. Laura Murphy and Aoife Prendergast combined for 11 points for the senior winners Kilkenny. Kilkenny were crowned Leinster camogie champions after getting the better of Wexford at Netwatch Dr Cullen Park in a game that saw a protest by the players from both teams over the ongoing skorts controversy. @MartyMofficial reports from Carlow #RTEgaa — RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) May 17, 2025 Meanwhile in today's Tailteann Cup action, Offaly made it two wins from two in Group 2 after edging out a tight battle with Waterford. An early Dylan Guiry goal gave Waterford a brilliant start before Offaly settled to take a three-point lead into half-time. Cathal Flynn's 48th minute goal pushed Offaly into a four-point lead as they prevailed with a five-point win. Wicklow defeated Laois by five points in the same group. Related Reads 'I thought we should do something' - Playing a club camogie final in shorts Leinster camogie finals set to go ahead as players plan to continue skort protest Special Congress 'not a guarantee' skorts issue will be resolved In Group 1, Kildare also continued their winning start with a commanding win over Tipperary. There was just three points between the sides at half-time, with Darragh Brennan scoring a goal for Tipperary in the 27th minute. But Kildare took control in the second half, as Daniel Flynn finished with 2-4 while Alex Beirne helped himself to 1-5 including a penalty. Limerick had eight points to spare against Antrim in Group 3 at Corrigan Park. The visitors had a three-point advantage at the break and went 10 points clear when centre-back Iain Corbett — who finished with 1-3 — scored from a penalty in the early stages of the second half. James Naughton pushed them into an 11-point lead on the way to a personal tally of six points while Patrick McBride provided a late consolation goal for Antrim. Devasting start to the second half from @Carlow_GAA! A Mossy Kavanagh goal directly from throw-in puts The Barrowsiders into a 21-point lead. Dominating performance so far 🔴🟡🟢 Watch the Joe McDonagh Cup LIVE only on #ClubberTV — Clubber (@clubber) May 17, 2025 In the Joe McDonagh Cup, Down held off Kerry for a seven-point victory which featured four goals. Finn Turpin raised a green flag in the ninth minute for Down before Niall Mulcahey provided a goal for Kerry two minutes later. The sides were level at half-time and Down were three points in front at the end of the third quarter when Luke Rochford equalised with Kerry's second goal. Down got their second goal shortly after as Chris Egan edged them into a two-point advantage before a late flurry of points helped secure the win for Down with Pearse Óg McCrickard, Caolan Taggart and Donal Hughes among the scorers. Westmeath and Carlow played out an 11-goal battle in Mullingar where the visitors emerged with a 10-point win. Former Galway hurler Davy Glennon grabbed the first goal of the day for Westmeath but Chris Nolan responded quickly with a three-pointer for Carlow. Nolan finished with 2-2 while Marty Kavanagh registered an impressive 3-12. Fiachra Fitzpatrick and James Doyle completed the list of goal-scorers for Carlow. Westmeath trailed by 21 points at the start of the second half but mounted a strong comeback Peter Clarke and Niall O'Brien responded with crucial goals, with O'Brien converting a penalty. The gap was down to seven points in the final quarter but Carlow added two more goals to ease them over the line.
Irish Times
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Newstalk's Andrea Gilligan pays attention to the issues others ignore. Women's issues
It's a week when the airwaves are awash with talk of people in traditional garb, be it men in cassocks or women in skorts . But while the robes worn by cardinals at the papal conclave signify the wearers' lofty status, the hybrid garment foisted on camogie players only underscores how overlooked and undervalued they feel, as Andrea Gilligan hears on Lunchtime Live ( Newstalk , weekdays). On Tuesday Gilligan speaks to Aisling Maher, captain of the Dublin camogie team, who, along with their Kilkenny counterparts, wore shorts at the Leinster semi-final, only to be told – by the male referee – that the match would be abandoned unless the players changed into skorts. 'It's definitely a career low for me,' says Maher. 'It's the worst thing you can do to a group of players who have put years of preparation into trying to play at the highest level.' The teams had been protesting against the mandatory wearing of skorts after a Gaelic Players Association survey found that 83 per cent of intercounty-camogie players want the option for shorts. The customary garment isn't just seen as impractical – 'It's not fit for purpose,' says the Kilkenny player Laura Murphy – but also leaves players feeling exposed. 'If there's photos, you're saying I hope they didn't take any bad ones of me,' says the Dublin player Emma O'Byrne, understandably sounding embarrassed at the notion. READ MORE While the players speak in a casual, understated manner that belies their obvious determination, Gilligan is more forthright in her language. 'It seems absolutely bonkers in 2025 that people can't choose,' she remarks while rebutting texts from pro-skort traditionalists: 'The guards' uniforms have changed.' The host tartly adds that the Camogie Association declined an invitation to appear on the show, instead issuing a statement that new skort designs are being tested. A more infuriating example of institutional pigheadedness you'd be hard pressed to come up with. Gilligan's handling of the topic captures her show at its best. With her genially chatty style, the host isn't one for doggedly pursuing rigour and precision; instead she allows discussions to flow at their own pace – and her self-effacing admissions to any gaps in her knowledge help put guests at ease, in a way that more overbearingly confident hosts might not. (She happily concedes that she never played camogie.) It all fosters an easy ambience that helps to draw out insights on issues that might otherwise be sidelined. This is particularly so if the topic concerns women, whether it's the camogie controversy, the show's regular Making Babies slot (about exactly that) or Wednesday's item on a new survey revealing that nearly 90 per cent of teenage girls in Ireland struggle with anxiety. Gilligan talks to Tammy Darcy of the Shona Project , the charity that commissioned the survey. She's not surprised by the results. 'It's constant pressure all of the time,' says Darcy, pointing to the stress caused by social media and school. 'It's no wonder this is impacting on their sense of self.' The contribution of Aisha Hassan, a schoolgirl ambassador for the charity, is more authentically telling. 'We feel like we're too scared to ask for support, just in case we're seen as dramatic or attention-seeking,' she says. Gilligan is a quietly supportive presence throughout, while still playing the self-deprecating host. 'Bebo was the only social-media account when I was coming out of college,' she says. It's the online equivalent of saying your first car was a Ford Model T. [ Miriam Lord: The cardinals wore frousers. Sure why can't the girleens wear skorts? Opens in new window ] Gilligan's relaxed approach isn't always conducive to arresting material, with her item on driving-test delays meandering. But in this instance it's a valuable discussion, aided by the presence of the Today FM host Alison Curtis , who talks about the rarely acknowledged anxieties felt by girls such as her teenage daughter: 'Everything seems fine, like a duck gliding across the water, but panicking underneath.' If only everyone paid such attention to the concerns of young women. The determinedly male College of Cardinals features prominently on Drivetime (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays), as the election of a new pope gets under way. Barry Lenihan's vivid dispatches from the Vatican evoke the febrile atmosphere surrounding the conclave , be it the views of tourists soaking up the atmosphere, the yapping interruptions of marauding Roman dogs or the reporter's phone line dropping out so spectacularly at one stage that the emission of black or white smoke seems like an efficient means of communication in comparison. Given the strict secrecy around papal voting, however, Cormac Ó hEadhra and Sarah McInerney , the programme's presenters, soon turn to camogie's sartorial circus in search of news. McInerney speaks to the Waterford player Niamh Rockett, who reiterates that skorts are both restrictive and revealing: 'The last thing you want to be worrying about is how you look and if the photographer is going to take a picture of you in a compromised position.' The Sinn Féin Senator Maria McCormack notes that such archaic sportswear is limiting in other ways: 'If we want to grow this sport we have to make young girls feel respected and empowered.' Which, as Gilligan has already heard, can be hard enough as it is. Female empowerment is definitely not the vibe one gets from Drivetime's sport bulletin when the reporter Greg Allen discusses the matter with RTÉ's GAA correspondent, Marty Morrissey. A journalist well versed in the administrative workings of Gaelic games, Morrissey repeatedly notes that delegates at the 2024 Camogie Congress mandated the wearing of skorts: 'I'll put this in perspective: it was a democratic process.' Maybe so, but the sound of two men musing on the optimal sportswear for women comes across as a throwback to more restrictive times, however unintentionally: concluded are democratic too, after all. At least the Camogie Association gives ground on Thursday, calling a special congress on the matter later this month. Sometimes it's best just to move on. Moment of the week Newstalk presenter Pat Kenny. Photograph: Newstalk An experienced and authoritative broadcaster, the Newstalk host Pat Kenny is inexplicably prone to occasionally shocking gaffes. Those wondering why might find illumination in his conversation with his station colleagues Shane Coleman and Ciara Kelly on Tuesday's Newstalk Breakfast (weekdays). Discussing children's bad behaviour, Kenny confesses to early indiscretions of his own: 'My mother and my father never knew that I was electrocuting myself regularly,' he jauntily remarks. 'I was always messing with electricity.' As Coleman hurriedly warns listeners not to try this at home, Kenny carries on regardless: 'I took out the Christmas lights, took bulbs out of them, plugged them in, stuck my finger in and was electrocuted.' Kelly remarks that it sounds like a superhero origin story, and certainly Kenny's childhood electricity experiments point to his future career: as a presenter, he's always had an aptitude for, ahem, current affairs. Conclave: why this papal election is the hardest to call in decades Listen | 37:16
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Atombit launches its journey of radical transformation for CX and EX with Amplify Analytix acquisition
Experience intelligence pioneer will reimagine value creation and profitability for its clients. LONDON, Feb. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Atombit, an Experience Intelligence innovator, today announced its acquisition of Amplify Analytix, specialist in data analytics and GenAI solutions with operations in the EU and India. "The team and capability that we are assembling is exceptional," said Paolo Righetti, Founder & CEO of Atombit. "We have a blueprint for value-generating, profit enhancing CX and EX that is 20-years in the making, and are bringing to market solutions that will be game-changing for enterprises across multiple industries. Together, we will reinvent what can be achieved with Experience Intelligence, to transform the value outcomes for the biggest, most complex brands in the world. We are delighted to join forces with Amplify Analytix as a critical step on this journey." "Amplify has a phenomenally talented team of business consultants, data scientists and engineers, and GenAI experts that have been reinventing the value outcomes of their clients for years. This is our first acquisition since launching earlier this year and is a pivotal moment for our business." Amplify Co-Founder and CEO, Laura Murphy, mirrors Paolo's enthusiasm. "Joining Atombit accelerates our shared mission to transform how businesses use data, to revolutionise their outcomes. With Atombit's experience and global scale we can enrich the depth and breadth of the impact we deliver to our clients, and expand across industries and markets. I am extremely proud of our team, and thankful to our wonderful customers, with whom we look forward to raising the bar even further." Amplify will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Atombit, retaining its brand identity and leadership team. The companies will combine their solutions and bring to market a consolidated value proposition that leverages expertise from both sides. The combined entity will launch specialist solution families that leverage methodologies, technologies, AI and analytics to accelerate growth, optimise efficiency, and mitigate risk. Game-changing returns will be enabled by reimagining customer and employee lifetime values in parallel. Amplify represents the start of Atombit's journey to create a category leader and reimagine value generation across the CX and EX lifecycles. For more information about Atombit and its acquisition of Amplify Analytix, or to make an inquiry, visit Photo - - View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Atombit Sign in to access your portfolio
