A woman who defrauded the State of more than €66,000 in pension and carer’s allowance payments for three years after her father’s death has avoided being sent to prison.
Shauna Tynan was given a 16-month suspended prison sentence when she appeared before Letterkenny Circuit Court.
The Department of Social Welfare was left with a total loss of over €66,000.
The 57-year-old, with an address Slieve Sneacht, Letterkenny, received €32,222 in carer’s allowance and a further €34,265.60 in respect of a State pension following the death of her father in October, 2013.
Tynan was charged with a total of 246 counts and pleaded guilty to 10 sample charges on a full facts basis.
The court heard that the €34,265.60 of money obtained by fraudulently claiming a State pension has been repaid in full while Tynan is repaying a sum of €21.83 per week in respect of the outstanding amount.
Sergeant Harvey Maughan, who was attached to the special investigations unit at the Department of Social Protection, previously told the court he began an investigation in July 2016 after receiving information.
Sergeant Maughan said that Tynan would have been entitled to six payments after the death of her father.
The State pension monies were paid into a joint account in the name of Tynan and her father, while the defendant collected the carer’s allowance in person from the Post Office.
Sergeant Maughan interviewed Tynan in August 2016, when she said she had begun the process of registering her father’s death but did not complete the process as she was “having difficulty dealing with his death”.
The court was told that Tynan is the executor of her late mother’s estate and that, through that estate, she was a 50 per cent share of lands on Arranmore island. The matter was adjourned several times to allow for progress regarding the sales of the lands. Last year, the court was informed of an “unavoidable delay” in the process.
Tynan’s barrister, Ms Patricia McCallum BL, told Judge John Aylmer that her client is continuing to pay the balance of the carer’s allowance at an agreed rate with a balance of around €20,000 to be discharged.
Judge Aylmer said that a starting point for sentencing was two years in prison on each count.
Ms Fiona Crawford BL, for the prosecution, said the Department was seeking the funds to be paid in full as the accused came into funds recently.
Judge Aylmer said these were criminal proceedings and he was not going to alter parameters which he set down some time ago. He said it was open to the Department to seek to reach a new agreement, even if there was a demand for the full amount.
Judge Aylmer said he would have to have regard to the fact that Tynan has no previous convictions and has not come to any adverse attention since. A probation report has placed Tynan at a low risk of reoffending.
He said Tynan dealt “very badly” with the death of her father and the offending was down to inactivity in that she failed to do what she ought to have and reported her father’s death.
“This was appropriately described as a ‘ticking time bomb’ by Ms McCallum,” Judge Aylmer said. “She buried the head in the ground and did not fact the realities”
He said the defendant has shown remorse and embarrassment and was to be given credit for the repayments.
Judge Aylmer reduced the sentence to one of 16 months in prison and suspended the entirety for a period of 16 months upon Tynan entering into a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for 16 months.