Campaigner for homeless stole €26,000 from pensioner in care home

A campaigner for the homeless received a three-year suspended prison sentence for stealing €26,852 from an 88-year-old resident in St Joseph’s care home in Ennis, Co Clare.

Judge Gerald Keyes imposed the sentence at Ennis Circuit Court yesterday on Josephine O’Brien (60), from Ennis, for the theft from Stephen O’Halloran.

The court heard O’Brien used some of the money to open a drop-in centre for the homeless at Chapel Lane in Ennis.

In court yesterday, Canon Bob Hanna of the Church of Ireland gave character evidence, saying O’Brien had been involved in helping the homeless and destitute in Ennis for a number of years. He described her as “a beautiful and gentle person” and “a grandmother who dotes on her grandchildren”.

He said O’Brien was filling some of the holes no one else had been filling in the care of the homeless. She had done everything for the homeless except take them into her own home.

State counsel Stephen Coughlan asked Canon Hanna how he squared O’Brien’s work with the homeless with “taking money from an old man in a residential home”.

Canon Hanna said: "As a cleric you can imagine how I feel about that. You can be a neighbour of someone and see how a glass can be two-thirds full."

Character evidence
Mr Coughlan told Canon Hanna: "It ill becomes you to come in here to give character evidence for someone who was using stolen money for a particular purpose."

Counsel for O’Brien, Mark Nicholas, objected to Mr Coughlan’s statement, and said: “I wonder has the Director of Public Prosecutions issued a missive about character reference testimonials. I don’t think she has.”

In evidence yesterday, Det Garda Beatrice Ryan said Mr O’Halloran “is a frail man and wouldn’t wish Ms O’Brien any harm and wouldn’t like her to get a custodial sentence”.

She added: “Looking at Ms O’Brien’s lifestyle and visiting her home, it wasn’t lavish and there were no sign of luxury goods, and it’s right to say she helped other people with the money taken.”

Judge Keyes said Mr O’Halloran “may have been aggrieved and disappointed at the breach of trust, but he bears no ill will towards Ms O’Brien”.

He told O’Brien: “What you did was very, very wrong.”

Sentencing took place yesterday after a jury last April found O'Brien, of Bridge View, Roslevan, guilty on nine of the 10 counts of theft between July 2006 and October 2010.

Society
Imposing sentence, Judge Keyes said society or anyone would not benefit by an immediate custodial sentence on O'Brien. He ordered that she pay back Mr O'Halloran €100 a month, or a total of €3,600 during the three years of the suspended jail term.