Gary Dunne receives fully suspended sentence for pension fraud

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

Gary Dunne received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence, suspended in full, at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court; the proceedings were reported on 15 February 2024. He pleaded guilty to fraudulently claiming his deceased brother’s invalidity pension.

The pension was collected from March 2020 to August 2021, while the charge is described as occurring between September and October 2021, and Dunne claimed €26,820. Judge Martin Nolan cited the guilty plea, cooperation and Dunne’s otherwise clear record before suspending the sentence entirely. The defence said Dunne had a job offer, wanted to reimburse the State and could raise up to €3,000 within four to six weeks.