A senior citizen, who claimed she took over the illegal lottery selling business from her daughter when she was caught selling, is to return to the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on September 28 to pay a fine of almost $400,000.

Vicrose Noble, a 67-year-old resident of Jacks Hill in St Andrew, pleaded guilty to selling illegal lottery tickets and was told that she would be given a 50 per cent discount on the maximum fine of $750,000.

Parish Judge Maxine Ellis subsequently postponed Noble’s sentencing until September 28, when she will be expected to pay a fine of $375,000 to the court.

Noble was caught at premises on Olympic Way in Kingston selling illegal lottery tickets and paying out money during a snap raid by the police and enforcement officers on August 12 about 12:45 pm.

According to the police, Noble, when cautioned, said, “Officer, yes a sell it so me can buy asthma pump and medication.”

She also told the police, “Officer, a me daughter me take it over from cause she gone overseas.”

Yesterday, when she appeared in court she maintained that she had taken over the illegal business from her daughter and that she was doing it to survive.

“My daughter used to do it and since she gone a foreign me take it over,” she said.

But Judge Ellis told her, “I am not impressed in no shape or form; you are a law breaker.”

The judge then asked her how long she had been selling illegal lottery tickets and Noble in response said that she had recently started as she had just returned from Connecticut in the United States.

“It was the first week, so me bad lucky,” she said.

The judge, however, told Noble that she had no excuse for committing the offence because she was not that “down and out” as she could afford to buy plane ticket to travel.

Noble said that it was her children who had bought the ticket.

The judge then told her that she should have used the plane fare to help maintain herself and that it would have been better if she had taken her children to court for parental support instead of selling illegal lottery

Judge Ellis then asked her when she could pay the fine and Noble in reply said, “I don’t know how long it is going to take.”

But the judge told her to go and seek help from her family and return to court with the money in September.