A Donegal man who pleaded guilty to 22 counts of theft, amounting to over €5,000, from his Parkinsons-suffering brother’s credit card could not account for anything he bought ‘bar the clothes he was wearing and a George Foreman grill’.
At Letterkenny Circuit Court, father-of-two Gerald Griffin (53) of Ballylast, Castlefin, pleaded guilty to 22 counts of theft relating to dates between January 18, 2016 and March 20, 2016, during which time the account in question ‘was emptied’.
The card was used for withdrawals in Ballybofey and Strabane.
Previously, Mr Griffin has served a five-month prison sentence in Northern Ireland relating to the use of the card in Strabane, where amounts totally €1,840 were withdrawn.
The complainant, Mr Kenneth Griffin, of Ard McCool in Stranorlar, noticed upon his return from a vacation in Australia that the entire contents had been taken from the account. When he visited the Bank of Ireland’s Ballybofey branch, Kenneth Griffin was able to see the large number of withdrawals that had been made.
Garda McCready said that Gerald Griffin attended Ballybofey Garda Station on April 9 2016 and admitted taking the card. Subsequently, he was arrested on June 21 and taken to Letterkenny Garda Station where he made a full admission.
“He said he had no idea how many times he used the card or how much money he had withdraws. He said he had no recollection what he did with the money and that he had nothing to show for it,” Garda McCready said, adding that the accused – who doesn’t smoke, drink or gamble – could only show ‘the clothes he was wearing and a George Foreman grill that he bought’.
The court heard that Gerald Griffin, who was using his brother’s house during tea breaks from his work, was looking for batteries in a press when the card, in the name of Kenneth Griffin’s daughter, and accompanying pin number fell out.
“He was wrestling with himself whether to use it to not,” the court was told.
“He said everyone in his family knew that he couldn’t be trusted with money.”
Gerald Griffin, who has a previous conviction for theft from Stranorlar Chapel dating back to 1997, said he had credit card debts himself.
A victim impact statement was read by Garda McCready on behalf of Kenneth Griffin, who said he noticed that the credit card was in arrears of €10,000 when he returned from ‘the holiday of a lifetime’ in Australia.
The statement said: “We were devastated. When confronted, he admitted to stealing the money. He showed no remorse. We are still devastated.
“I suffer from Parkinson’s and this was the last thing that we wanted. Why did he do this to me and my family? He is a cold, heartless thief and he doesn’t care about anyone other than himself.”
The debt remains outstanding and Kenneth Griffin, the court heard, is ‘feeling pressurised’.
Barrister for the accused Damien Crawford said that Gerarld Griffin’s co-operation has saved the State a three-day trial
He said: “He felt himself going out of control. He continued to use the card on an ongoing basis. There was a sense of fatalism about what he was doing. He was shocked to find out the amount. He was genuinely non-plussed about it.
“He has served a prison sentence arising from the same crime and was released in March of this year. That experience was not good for him. He is substantially estranged from his family. His life is absolutely destroyed and he is deeply remorseful and ashamed. His relationship with his mother is asunder.”
Mr Crawford said that his client and a partner of 30 years had broken up and said Gerald Griffin was ’trying to rebuild his life’.
Judge John O’Hagan agreed to defer sentencing until the July 13 sitting of Buncrana Circuit Court.