One of the sadder moments in criminal defense work occurs when a parent is ordered to begin a prison sentence while leaving behind a family.  Even worse is a tax evasion case out of Ireland, where both parents were ordered to serve multi-year prison sentences while leaving behind 10, 16, & 18-year-old children.

Parents jailed for tax fraud – Tax, Money – Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Two Northern Ireland parents were jailed on Friday 26 February 2010 for evading tax leaving them owing HM Revenue & Customs over £4 million.

Leaving children aged 10, 16 and 18 this should serve as a warning to anyone fiddling their taxes on a large scale. HMRC means business, and having children at home will not keep you out of jail.

Gerry Small (Patrick Gerard Small) of Cullenrammer Road, Dungannon, aged 56 was jailed for 3.5 years after pleading guilty. The judge said this sentence was substantially reduced “as an act of mercy” in the light of Mr Small’s ill-health. Medical evidence pointed to a list of 10 conditions which Mr Small suffered from. Mr Small had tried to pin the blame for the tax offences on Mrs Small – a tactic which the judge described as “dishonest and unedifying”.

Mary Small – his wife of the same address – aged 50 was jailed for 2.5 years. Her sentence was reduced to reflect her prompt guilty plea and the fact that she did not play games with the legal system once she pleaded guilty. (By way of contrast Gerry Small pleaded not guilty, then guilty, then said he wanted to back to not guilty. Finally he abandoned that tactic and so remained at guilty!) The judge acknowledged the difficulty and distress that jailing a mother of a 10-year-old would have, but felt he had no alternative but to send her to jail as well as her husband.