Mary Kennedy jailed for theft and fraud at Dublin court

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

Mary Kennedy was jailed for two years for 16 sample counts of theft and two counts of fraud at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 30 May 2022. She had pleaded guilty to the charges.

The report said Kennedy, a hospital accounts worker, diverted more than €670,000 over a 16-year period after arranging cheques for doctors who were not employed by St Columcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown. It said the offending covered 2004 to 2020 and that the matter first came to light in November 2020.

Judge Martin Nolan said Kennedy had to be imprisoned but imposed the most lenient sentence he could, setting it at two years. The court heard that she had no previous convictions and health problems; her defence said an accidental payment began the offending, that she could not stop, and that she was willing to work for free to repay the money. Garda Michael Murphy agreed there were no indications of wealth associated with her, while no money had been recovered by the HSE.