Shamaine McNulty receives suspended sentence for handling stolen property

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

Shamaine McNulty received an 18-month suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 10 July 2017. Judge Karen O’Connor imposed the sentence and warned her that she did not want to see her before the court again.

McNulty pleaded guilty to using a false instrument to open a bank account in Drogheda on 23 March 2015 and to handling stolen property between 23 March and 10 October 2015. The proceedings were reported on 10 July 2017.

The court heard that McNulty used a fake electricity bill to open the account and made withdrawals of €7,000 and €1,000, which she handed to a man she knew as Frank. She was paid €900. The court also heard that she did not know about the apartment scam and thought she was helping the man open an account for his car sales business. Defence barrister David Perry said she initially did not think anything illegal was happening, but later had misgivings about the account’s use.

Two international students had paid money into the account for accommodation advertised online, only to discover on arriving in Ireland that it was unavailable. After her arrest, McNulty contacted gardaí when the man arranged to meet her; he was arrested following her tip-off.

Judge O’Connor said she found it “entirely incredible” that McNulty had not been more suspicious about the account. The judge said a three-year sentence would have been appropriate but recognised her substantial assistance to gardaí. McNulty had no previous convictions.