A former garda was sentenced to a 12-month suspended sentence in relation to charges of fraud yesterday.
Noel O'Driscoll (54) of Codrum, near Macroom, Co Cork, pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to five counts of fraud on dates between February 2000 and February 2001. O'Driscoll was accused of falsifying medical expenses amounting to €100.
The deception first came to the attention of An Garda Síochána when it was noticed that a doctor's receipt had been altered from £20 to £28. The court was told that the father of six was under severe stress at the time - both in financial and work terms.
Det Sgt Eddie Fogarty told Judge Patrick Moran that the defendant was in financial difficulties at the time.
The court heard that when confronted with the fraud O'Driscoll could not understand that he had committed any crime. Det Sgt Fogarty also told the court that O'Driscoll had co-operated fully with the investigation.
The defendant, who had 24 years' experience and was stationed at the Bridewell in Cork, was discharged from An Garda Síochána on May 16th, 2002. Mr Tim O'Leary, defending, said that his client had lost all his standing in the rural community in which he lived.
He accepted what he did was wrong, but felt he had a responsibility to provide for his family.
In sentencing, Judge Patrick Moran said the defendant was in a position of trust as a garda and that he had betrayed that trust.
"You are now working in a different walk of life and you have lost your standing in the community," he said. He imposed a one-year sentence, but suspended it and bound O'Driscoll to the peace for two years.