Annette McCluskey gets suspended sentence for welfare fraud

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

Annette McCluskey received a three-year suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for fraudulently claiming social welfare payments.

She admitted three sample charges of stealing adult dependant allowance between July 2004 and March 2013, and using a PPS number in another person’s name.

The proceedings were reported on 21 July 2018. The couple had arranged to pay €28 a week towards the debt and had repaid more than €3,000.

Judge Karen O’Connor accepted that her husband’s alcohol addiction had affected her financial means. The judge said the case was not victimless and that funds for health and education services had been lost.