Two Waterford sisters have been found guilty by a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court of stealing £51,000 from an elderly Kerry publican.
Nora O'Reilly and her sister, Margaret Doherty, of Kilbarry, Co Waterford, had pleaded not guilty to burgling the private premises of Mr Jeremiah Griffin (70), at Griffin's Bar in Castlemaine, Co Kerry, on August 22nd, 1999.
Judge Yvonne Murphy remanded the women in custody for sentence on March 11th.
The jury deliberated for three hours before returning a unanimous guilty verdict on Doherty and a 10-2 guilty verdict on O'Reilly after a six-day trial.
Doherty, who was six months pregnant at the time of the crime, sobbed as she heard Ms Orla Crowe SC, prosecuting, tell Judge Murphy the maximum sentence for their crime would be 14 years.
"I am innocent. I don't know anything about it. I can't do no jail. I can't be sentenced," Doherty sobbed, putting her face in her hands. Family members began shouting angrily in court after the jury was escorted out by gardaí. "You have taken my two daughters," their father said accusingly to the investigating officers.
"You dirty scum," another member of the family said, walking angrily towards Supt Francis O'Brien, who had led the investigation.
The jury had heard from various Garda witnesses that when interviewed separately, in Waterford and in Dublin, the two women allegedly confessed to having committed the crime.
The investigating officers, from Kerry and Waterford, all denied in cross-examination by Mr Barry White SC for O'Reilly and Mr Donagh McDonagh SC for Doherty, that the confessions were "fabrications". They also agreed they did not find any evidence, in a search of Doherty's caravan before they arrested her, to link her to the crime, and no forensic evidence was found of either woman's involvement.
Mr Griffin told Ms Crowe on the first day of the trial he kept the £51,000 in a plastic bag, tied with a rubber band or a piece of string, in a closet in his bedroom. He said that despite having a bank account he hid the money because he was reluctant for "the taxman" to know his exact wealth, so he initially told gardaí he had lost £35,000. Had the taxman found out how much money he had, "he would have come and got it", Mr Griffin said, to laughter in court.
The jury also heard that O'Reilly told gardaí Mr Griffin was "a fool to have that much money". She could not believe her eyes when she realised just how much money "the old fella" had hidden in the bag.
O'Reilly allegedly confessed at Mountjoy Garda station in Dublin that she stole Mr Griffin's money. Both women allegedly told gardaí, in their separate confessions that the stolen money was given to their mother who "divided it up". Their mother, Ms Mary O'Reilly, was in court every day of the trial but was absent when the verdict was heard.