Today in Belfast Crown
Court Mr Justice Mark Horner has imposed a suspended
sentence on me.
I am 61 years old and this is the very first time in my
life that I have found myself on the wrong side of the law.
These proceedings began
by me wholeheartedly assisting the police in 2010. I have never been arrested.
I have never been the subject of a personal or home search. I have never been
detained.
I have never sought to
profit from the miserable circumstances in which the non EU participants have
found themselves.
I had a genuine affinity
with the poor. I do feel a strong sense of compassion for those who must live
outside the EU in profound poverty and in appalling circumstances.
I am glad that the
judge and the prosecution accept that I have provided solace to the outcast and
that my door is always open to the downtrodden.
I am sorry for allowing
my compassion to bring me to the point of breaking the laws that our whole
society agree upon.
I did not intend to
offend my fellow citizens but accept that I have and again for that I am sorry.
At this time of the
year let us remember that Jesus, Mary and Joseph were emigrants into Egypt and
the Wise Men of the time came from the East.
We are all descendants
of immigrants..
Finally to those who want
to rush to judge me can I address the words of the most famous man ever
convicted or put on trial: “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”
+ Pat Buckley