Accountant with previous theft conviction jailed again over €30,000 fraud

Sonya McLean

An accountant who stole almost €30,000 from the golf club she worked for has received a partially suspended prison sentence of three years.

Cheryl Robinson (49) of The Woods, Laragh Road, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 10 sample charges of theft from Foxrock Golf Club on dates between October 2018 and July 2020.

Robinson has a previous conviction for a similar type of offending committed against a former employer. She pleaded guilty in 2010 to 72 charges of theft, resulting in a total loss of €125,000.

She was jailed for two years by Judge Martin Nolan in July 2010 for this offence. At the time, she was using the name Cheryl Byrne.

Judge Orla Crowe said this was a significant breach of trust perpetrated by someone in a position of financial control with a previous conviction for the same type of offending. She set a headline sentence of four years.

She noted that it was an unsophisticated series of thefts with Robinson transferring money routinely and regularly to pay bills as they arose. She noted evidence of mental health issues and Robinson's difficult personal circumstances.

She suspended 18 months of the sentence on condition that Robinson keep the peace and be of good behaviour and engage with the Probation Service after her release.

Garda Padraig Nagle told Kieran Kelly, prosecuting, that in May 2020, staff at the golf club were unhappy with certain balances in the club’s accounts, and Robinson was approached.

The staff were unhappy with Robinson’s responses to their questions, and it was decided that a “full-scale forensic investigation” should be carried out on the accounts, with a focus on bank reconciliation.

It was discovered that Robinson had been directing the payments for suppliers into her own bank account rather than the suppliers.

Gda Nagle agreed that the “transactions were readily identifiable”. Gardaí attended at Robinson’s home, and she later came to the station, but she made no admissions during subsequent garda interviews.

Gda Nagle agreed with Ronan Kennedy, defending, that Robinson separated in 2022 and is the sole carer for her three children, aged 16 to 24. It was accepted that she has not come to further garda attention.

She receives no financial support from her former husband, is in arrears in her mortgage and has a credit union loan of €40,000, counsel told the court. Kennedy said his client is “deeply ashamed” and acknowledges that she has “let so many people down”.

“She sincerely wishes she could turn back the clock, but she clearly cannot do that,” counsel said.

He suggested that Robinson was “a woman who was vulnerable and clearly trying to do her best by her children”.

He said that the theft was always going to be uncovered. “It was just a question of when the merry-go-round was going to stop,” Kennedy said.