Angela Manning pleads guilty to stealing €122,000 from elderly couple

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Angela Manning pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to seven sample charges of stealing money from an elderly couple through ATM withdrawals in Dublin between April 2019 and September 2021. The proceedings were reported on 13 July 2023.

Detective Garda Gavin Higgins told the court that Manning had initially been hired through an agency to care for married couple Laetitia Lynam and Enda O’Regan, before they hired her privately. Lynam gave Manning an ATM card and PIN to buy food. Manning had withdrawn over €122,000 from the couple’s joint account.

In September 2021, after Lynam asked for the card back, Manning told her she had taken her money. Lynam contacted gardaí, who obtained CCTV footage of Manning withdrawing cash. Manning told gardaí she lodged cash into a Bitcoin wallet. She also told Lynam she had met a man on Facebook and was falling in love with him.

Higgins agreed with defence counsel Michael Bowman that Manning had fallen for a Facebook scam. Bowman said she believed the money she transferred was a loan that would be repaid. He also said she had used her husband’s retirement money and he had returned to work. A medical report described Manning as an easy target for manipulation.

Higgins said High Court proceedings had taken place in 2021 and the deeds of the Manning family home were in the couple’s possession. Manning had no previous convictions. Ms Justice Pauline Codd adjourned the case for finalisation until 27 July.