News coming in, Sources inform us, Brian Ruddy, Pub Owner, and Restaurant along with Gavin McCloskey Pleaded Guilty to a Cigarettes Scam, which would have Cost Revenue in the region of 2 Million. They got Suspended Sentences.‘Plea for mercy’ from estranged wife spares man who smuggled five million cigarettes into south Armagh

A judge in Newry opted to suspend Ruddy’s sentence after hearing that 10 people’s jobs could be in danger if he ended up behind bars.

The 41-year-old from Carlingford is director of a firm that lists Junior’s Bar and Bistro in the Co Louth village as its business address.

Two of his fellow company directors, Gavin McCloskey (38) and Daniel Ruddy (39), also pleaded guilty to their role in the scam to transport rebranded cigarettes from the Netherlands to Ireland.total of five men were charged following a joint operation between HMRC and PSNI in June 2020.

The prosecution’s case was originally based on two journeys during which cigarettes were transported from Europe into the UK.

The second of these journeys – on May 30, 2020 – was intercepted by authorities at haulage premises in south Armagh.The premises contained some outbuildings, a static caravan and several vehicles, including a Volvo tractor unit with a trailer attached – both belonging to co-accused Patrick O’Donnell, 59, of Clontigora Hill.

The trailer contained pallets, most of which contained Regina branded cigarettes. There was also a forklift located in a shed on the site, carrying a pallet containing the same brand of cigarettes, packaged the same way, having been transported from a warehouse in the Netherlands to Northern Ireland by a different Volvo lorry, also owned by O’Donnell.

This lorry was driven by the third co-accused, 45-year-old Tomasz Marasek, with an address in Chorley, England. He was not present during the May 30 raid.

Marasek, who was employed by O’Donnell’s company as a driver, had transported the load all the way from the Netherlands to Heysham, England where it was deposited onto the ferry to Warrenpoint harbour. The trailer was then collected by someone else, where it was then taken to the yard in south Armagh.

A short time after entering the yard the authorities entered and locked down the premises, seizing the cigarettes.Judge Ramsey also referenced a letter from an accountant relating to his employment of 10 people at a restaurant and public house he owns in Carlingford.

“Ten people rely on this employment, and if he is sent to prison, then it’s the accountant’s view that that will put their employment in peril.”

In handing down his sentence, Judge Ramsey said that while Brian Ruddy was seen as the “organiser”, he had to “balance that against the powerful mitigation which has been entered in his case”.

Ruddy was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for three years. All five men walk free from court.