Brendan Sheehan withdraws appeal over overtime theft

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

Brendan Sheehan withdrew his appeal against the severity of his sentence, with the Court of Appeal’s permission. The proceedings were reported on 17 February 2020.

Sheehan pleaded guilty to multiple counts of theft relating to more than €300,000 in fraudulent overtime payments between 2010 and 2014. The court heard that some overtime work was carried out, but it was not possible to establish exactly how much. Sheehan told gardaí that he suffered from a chronic gambling addiction and that things had spiralled out of control.

At Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on 29 March 2019, Judge Tom O’Donnell sentenced him to four years’ imprisonment, with the final two years suspended.

Sheehan was due to appeal against the severity of his sentence on 17 February 2020. Before the case came on for hearing, his lawyers indicated that he had been released from custody on a community service scheme. They applied to withdraw the appeal, and the Court of Appeal permitted the withdrawal.