ROMANIA: BRITISH COUPLE FOUND GUILTY AND SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS FOR BABY SMUGGLING

Record ID: 278297

  • Title: ROMANIA: BRITISH COUPLE FOUND GUILTY AND SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS FOR BABY SMUGGLING
  • Date: 14th October 1994
  • Summary: EXPECTED BUCHAREST, ROMANIA (OCTOBER 14, 1994)(REUTERS TELEVISION - AVAILABLE ALL) 1. GV EXTERIOR OF COURT / SIGN 0.08 2. CU ADRIAN AND BERNADETTE MOONEY IN COURT (2 SHOTS) 0.14 3. GV COURT IN SESSION 0.20 4. CU BABY MONICA'S FATHER LISTENING 0.24 5. GV VERDICT BRING READ OUT (3 SHOTS) 0.56 6. GV DEFENDANTS IN DOC
  • Embargoed: 29th October 1994 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
  • City:
  • Country: Romania
  • Reuters ID: LVADTDOGHDBQ8UEL4M9WBUWP41VB
  • Story Text: A British couple were found guilty and sentenced to two years and four months in jail by a Bucharest court on Friday (October 14) for buying and trying to smuggle a baby out of Romania, court officials said.

    The lawyer for Adrian and Bernadette Mooney immediately lodged an appeal and said she had applied for them to be released on bail pending a hearing.

    "This is a very harsh sentence," defence lawyer Ioana Floca said. "I did not expect this sentence. They might have gotten a punitive sentence but not this harsh." The court ordered that the Mooneys be expelled from Romania once they served their sentences.

    Three men convicted of arranging the sale were sentenced to two years and eight months in jail. The unmarried teenage gypsy parents of the child will have to serve a year in jail once they turn 18.

    The Mooneys, arrested on July 6 with a five-month-old baby hidden in their car, were prosecuted under new adoption laws to stem baby trafficking since the 1989 overthrow of communism.

    British officials and even some members of the prosecution team had expected a suspended sentence and were shocked by the court's severity -- a clear warning to any other foreigners attempting to smuggle a baby out of the country.


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