Herbert Kilcline jailed for Dublin property registration fraud

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

Former solicitor Herbert Kilcline was jailed for two and a half years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 25 June 2025 for his role in a scheme involving false property deeds. Judge Sinead Ní Chúlacháin imposed the sentence.

A jury convicted Kilcline following a trial in November 2024 of two counts each of using a false instrument, failing to keep records, fraudulently procuring an entry in the Property Registration Authority’s registry and failing to apply the required measures as a designated person.

The offences took place between 2016 and 2018 and concerned properties on Phibsborough Road and St Mary’s Road in Dublin. The court heard that false deeds resulted in people being registered as owners when they were not entitled to be.

The judge described Kilcline as a key component of the scheme and said his actions put the integrity of the land registry at risk. She said the conduct may not have been deliberate or calculated fraud on his part, but was reckless and went beyond professional negligence. She took account of his medical and mental health issues when sentencing him.

His counsel, John McGowan SC, said Kilcline wished to appeal. Counsel said a handwriting report prepared for co-accused Philip Marley raised the possibility that the deed of conveyance may have been valid. He said Kilcline acknowledged falling short of his professional obligations but did not accept full responsibility.

Marley pleaded guilty during the trial to procuring fraudulent entry into the registry, deception and procuring the registration of a false deed. He received a three-year sentence earlier in June 2025. The proceedings were reported on 25 June 2025.