WIDOWED MOTHER JAILED FOR SIX YEARS ON DRUG CHARGE

A SOUTH African woman rearing five young children on her own after
her husband was murdered has been jailed for six years for importing
cannabis.

Rejoice Ncubie (42) of St Andrew's Street in Durban was struggling
financially after being made redundant by South African Airlines,
where she was a ground hostess, Judge Frank O'Donnell was told at
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Ncubie, found to have cannabis herb worth over =A350,000, pleaded
guilty to having more than =A310,000 worth of the drug for sale or
supply on May 16, 2001.

Gardai said Ncubie was stopped by immigration control at Dublin
airport on her arrival from Johannesburg via Paris. A search of her
bag revealed 25 kilos of cannabis hidden in a concealed section.

Judge O'Donnell said he felt great sympathy for Ncubie as a
struggling mother but didn't want a message going back to South
Africa that Irish courts were very lenient in these cases, adding:
"The sympathy I feel for you is only tempered with that I feel for
the mothers who stand in this court daily wondering what's going to
happen to their addicted children."