A BRAZILIAN woman who admitted keeping a brothel at a flat in the city has been sentenced to four months’ imprisonment.

Aulicete Walsh, aged 54, who has an address at Breskabeg, Clarina was prosecuted at Ennis District Court under the provisions of Section 11 of the Criminal Law Act relating to an offence in May 2016.

Ms Walsh is married to an Irish national and has been living in County Limerick for some time. She also has family living in this country.

She has a previous conviction – dating back to 2012 – for keeping a brothel in Newcastle West.

In January, Judge Patrick Durcan was told gardai searched an apartment at Crosley House, Dock Road on May 27, 2016 – a week after another brothel was discovered at a property at Bank Square, Bindon Lane, Ennis.

The court was told the property in Ennis was searched following a surveillance operation by local gardai.

After Mrs Walsh pleaded guilty to a single charge relating to each premises, Judge Durcan imposed consecutive four month prison sentences.

During a circuit court appeal against the severity of the sentences, solicitor Daragh Hassett said his client came from abject poverty in Brazil and was put into working as a prostitute during her early teens.

He said Ms Walsh made a clean break (from prostitution) and worked as a cleaner when she first arrived in Ireland.

Urging the court not to impose a prison sentence, he said Ms Walsh’s husband “is a man who likes to spend money he hasn’t got” and that she got back into the prostitution trade because of this.

“This monster needed to be fed. The credit card debts mounted and she went back into the trade of prostitution that she had given up,” he said.

Rejecting the appeal, Judge Tom O’Donnell said he found the arguments put forward to be incredible.

“The reason put forward that this lady went back into prostitution was because her husband’s spending habits got out of kilter is in the realms of Walter Mitty. I find it incredible to say the least,” he said.

The judge affirmed the earlier order of the district court but ordered that the sentences be served concurrently rather than consecutively.

Mrs Walsh was given some time to sort out her affairs and must present herself to the authorities on May 22, next.