Judge berates prominent retailer for selling vape to young girl at Limerick store

A PROMINENT retailer, which has dozens of stores across Ireland, has been convicted and fined following a prosecution arising from the sale of a disposable vape product to a juvenile at one of its stores in Limerick.

Imposing sentence, Judge Catherine Ryan strongly criticised Corajio Unlimited Company for failing to provide sufficient training to employees regarding the regulations around the sale of vapes.

Corajio Unlimited Company is the parent company of Mr Price which has three stores in Limerick - one in the city, one in Annacotty and one in Newcastle West.

Limerick District Court was told the prosecution arose from a HSE 'test purchase' which took place at the Mr Price store at Roxboro Shopping Centre, Limerick on April 4, 2025.

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An environmental health officer told the court that she was present in the store when an 18-year old member of staff sold a vape to a 15-year old girl when she approached the counter.

She told Judge Ryan the employee didn't ask the juvenile for ID and that she did not ask her age before completing the transaction.

During the hearing, it was revealed the employee, who has since left the company, didn't receive any formal training during the seven month period that she worked at the premises.

The court was told the teenager had been given a 161-page handbook when she started her employment with Mr Price but that she did not receive any formal training regarding the regulations. 

A solicitor for the retailer admitted this "was a complete oversight on our part" adding: "There's nothing wrong with the training, it just wasn't done, specific vape checks are in place now and we are really disappointed this happened."

Judge Ryan was told the company, which has no previous convictions relating to the sale of vapes to juveniles, has since rolled out measures to ensure there is no repeat offence. "This has now been the topic of a number of meetings but training wasn't done on this occasion, I'm in your hands judge," said the solicitor.

In reply and having examined a copy of the employee handbook, Judge Ryan stated: "There has to be an onus on Mr Price to provide the training. It's absolutely unacceptable and it's not good enough for a company like Mr Price to not provide training in that amount of time."

She added: "It's on the retailer and it's completely and utterly unacceptable, they are taking on young people and not training them."

Solicitor Barry Kelleher, representing the HSE, noted the judge's comments saying: "The employee was just 18-years old, they (Mr Price) put their hands up, they left on April 26 after being there for 7 months and they're receiving social welfare since departing the company, there was simply no training."

The judge imposed a €2,000 fine and she directed that Mr Price pay the costs of the HSE, which totalled €1,500.

A related-but-separate prosecution against the employee who sold the vape product was struck out.