Galway Advertiser 2009/GA_2009_01_22/GA_2201_E1_008.pdf 

Extracted text

8 NEWS

www.advertiser.ie

January 22 2009

Credit card scammer who booked rooms in The Ardilaun walks free
BY MARTINA NEE A non-national college student who had booked rooms in The Ardilaun hotel using stolen credit card details was saved from serving the remainder of his five month sentence because of his previous good character and promising future. After serving only five weeks behind bars, Nigerian national Kehinde Oduneye succeeded in appealing the five month sentence at Galway Circuit Court last week. The 23-year-old with an address at 24 Earlsfort View, Lucan, Dublin, had received the term of imprisonment at Galway District Court on November 10, 2008. He had been charged with dishonestly reserving accommodation at The Ardilaun hotel, Taylor's Hill, by using details from a compromised Visa credit card on August 22, 2008. State solicitor Willie Kennedy explained how a French national living in Paris found that he had been the victim of a credit card scam and that his card details had been used to book three rooms, valued over 1,000, in The Ardilaun hotel. The man immediately brought the matter to the attention of the hotel and gardai and he was reimbursed. Mr Kennedy said that the appellant, who had wanted to go to Galway for a wedding, had obtained the details through a friend who has since returned to Nigeria. Defence barrister Aisling Wall said that her client obtained the card details "through chance". She said that Oduneye met a man in a nightclub and was told that accommodation in Galway would be arranged for him. "He knew something was amiss but he did not know the extent of it," said Ms Wall who added that her client had made all attempts to make amends and that he had brought money to pay for flights which had also been charged to the card. The court then heard that Oduneye, who has been in Ireland since 2002 and is currently in his third year of a biochemistry degree in DCU, comes from a very stable background and has never been in trouble before. Ms Wall said that Oduneye, who has a "promising future", accepts that what he did was completely wrong. "This is a well known international fraud scam. This is a man who is a recognised responsible citizen in this country which has left me enquiring if this is only an error of judgment or is he just one more cog in a professional scam. The difficulty for me is that if I get this call wrong a promising student ends up in prison," said Judge Raymond Groarke. After careful consideration, Judge Groarke suspended the five month sentence on condition that the appellant enter a bond of 100 to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.

Taxi drivers to hold major protest and rally on Saturday
BY KERNAN ANDREWS

GALWAY'S SOUND & LIGHTING PROFESSIONALS
SPECIALISING IN HIRING & SELLING
LIGHTING BAND PA DJ SYSTEMS STAGING PROJECTORS PLASMA SCREENS LASERS KARAOKE SMOKE/HAZE MACHINES STROBE LIGHTING

DELIVERY & COLLECTION ARRANGED

WE WILL NOT BE BEATEN ON PRICE
TEL: 091 773773 WEB: www. soundtolight.ie
SOUND TO LIGHT, UNIT 2, LIOSBAN INDUSTRIAL ESTATE GALWAY

Galway taxi drivers have united under the banner of the Galway Taxi Association and will be holding a `Day of Action and Petition' on Saturday. Taxi drivers from Big O Taxis, Galway Taxis, Abbey Taxis, City Taxis, Local Taxis, Failte Taxis, and independent taxi operators will gather at the Eyre Square rank at 11am and then walk to the Galway Cathedral Car Park for a public rally at 12.30pm. The drivers are protesting against how things have developed in the taxi industry since it was deregulated in the early part of this decade, and also to show their frustration with the Office of the Taxi Regulator.

Since the industry was deregulated the number of taxis in Galway has mushroomed. However this has led to problems of overcrowding on taxi ranks and taxis having to park way beyond the rank's actual limit. The taxi drivers are calling for a `moratorium of entry' for any more taxi drivers for the next one to three years. They are also calling for the Office of the Taxi Regulator to be brought back into the Department of Transport. The route of the march will be through Williamsgate Street, Eglinton Street, St Francis Street, and across the Salmon Weir Bridge. The marchers will be led by a lone piper, followed by a cross made of taxi signs, a symbol of the industry.