A Co Westmeath woman is refusing to pay a €150 fine for littering, after she tore up an election candidate’s leaflets in front of him.
Michelle Byrne, mother of three from Mullingar who had a row with the Labour candidate Gerry Sheridan after she refused to let him put his fliers through her door.
Mrs Byrne ripped up the leaflets in front of Mr Sheridan, but she later disposed of them into her bin.
The 32-year-old mother then received a fine for €150 from the county council for littering, but she is refusing to pay it.
Ms Byrne has since made a statement in which she said: “I will do prison before I pay a €150 fine, that’s a tactic, that’s bullying. He actually put his rubbish into my letter box.
“So I think the councillor himself should be charged for dumping his rubbish, with his face. It shouldn’t be me that has to pay for this, it should be him having to pay for it, because I didn’t create the rubbish, he started it in the first place.”