{"id":188245,"date":"2023-10-26T14:39:25","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T14:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/?p=188245"},"modified":"2023-10-26T14:39:25","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T14:39:25","slug":"ice-cream-man-caught-selling-illegal-hooch-said-he-was-treated-like-criminal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/ice-cream-man-caught-selling-illegal-hooch-said-he-was-treated-like-criminal\/","title":{"rendered":"Ice cream man caught selling illegal hooch said he was treated like criminal"},"content":{"rendered":"
An Irishman rumbled for selling illegal hooch from his ice cream van has described his subsequent treatment as something befitting a drug cartel member.<\/p>\n
Patrick O\u2019Dwyer, 71, from Cahersiveen, Kerry, Ireland, allegedly sold so-called 'Irish moonshine' poit\u00edn from his colourful ice cream van, something he denies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
"Jesus Christ \u2013 you would have thought I was one of the Kinahans," he said of how Irish officials swooped on his home an interrogated him, referring to the notorious drug cartel family based in Dublin.<\/p>\n
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A warrant was executed on August 23, 2022, to search the pensioner's home and van. Some 31 litres of poit\u00edn was found at his address outside Cahirsiveen, including 19 100mls bottles in the garage, as well as bottles in his ice-cream van. In addition, 90 empty bottles were found.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He was eventually convicted and fined \u20ac2,500 (\u00a32,176), but he said he was shocked by the "heavy-handed" nature of the response from officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey blocked off the drive \u2026 blocked off the garage and came in here and made me sit at the table for three hours,\u201d he told the Sunday World.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey would not allow me to move from the table and I was threatened, every time I tried to move, with seven days in a cell."<\/p>\n
He claims he was actually handing out the hooch to tour coach operators as a thank you for letting him sell ice cream and treats to their customers.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSo, no, I wasn\u2019t selling it \u2026 but that\u2019s what I was done for," he explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asked why he had pleaded guilty to selling the alcohol if he wasn\u2019t being paid for it, the pensioner said he was offered a deal by authorities.<\/p>\n
"If I had gone to court and pleaded not guilty, then I could be open to a \u20ac20,000 (\u00a317,415) fine. Or I could plead guilty, and I\u2019d probably get a \u20ac2,500 fine," he explained.<\/p>\n
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