A haulage company owner has told of his sense of betrayal when he learned that a trusted employee and family friend had stolen over €200,000 at a time when he and the rest of his employees had taken pay cuts to help the company survive the recession.
Paddy Murphy, who owns Macroom Haulage, said the thefts by Margaret McCarthy Creedon were difficult to comprehend given the fact that they and their families had been close but the effect of her crime went beyond simply the money she had stolen.
“Margaret Creedon worked for our company for 22 years - from 1992 until 2014. For many years she was my financial manager and dealt with the financial affairs of the company and between, 2000 and 2014, a sum in excess of €205,000 was taken from the company,” he said.
Speaking after McCarthy Creedon pleaded guilty to six sample counts from a total of 50 theft charges, Mr Murphy told Cork Circuit Criminal Court that the betrayal of trust was particularly hard to take as she knew the sacrifices he and others were making to keep the company in business.
“It is difficult to express the degree of hurt and betrayal we feel ... particularly between the years 2009 and 2014 when a sum of nearly €70,000 was taken when the company was struggling during the recession and all the staff including myself took cuts in pay and salary.”
Mr Murphy acknowledged that McCarthy Creedon had paid back the money and written a letter of apology but the injury went beyond the money and while they had managed to save the company, they continue to feel a huge emotional impact as a result of her crime.
“We are shaken, we are angry, we are upset, we are cross, we are suffering,” Mr Murphy told Judge Gerard O’Brien in a victim impact statement that he read to the court.
Det Sgt Derek Mulcahy said that McCarthy Creedon had immediately admitted the thefts when she was arrested and interviewed about them by Det Garda Tom O’Sullivan and she had co-operated fully with gardaí and indicated she would be pleading guilty at an early stage.
Det Sgt Mulcahy agreed with defence barrister, Donal O’Sullivan that McCarthy Creedon, who lives at the Sally Gardens, Millstreet Road, Macroom, would have to live with the shame of her offending for the rest of her days as the case had received considerable publicity locally.
Mr O’Sullivan pointed out that his client had no previous convictions and was unlikely to ever come to garda attention again.
He said he didn’t believe it was the type of case that merited a custodial sentence as was often the case with many fraud type crimes and it was open to the court to deal with her either by way or a suspended prison sentence or possibly by a community service order.
Judge O’Brien said he wanted to have McCarthy Creedon assessed as to her suitability for community service and he remanded her on bail until May 4th to allow such an assessment be carried out.
