Seven years for fraud reduced on appeal

A former clerk who stole £256,000 from Blackpool Credit Union Cork will serve three years in prison after a decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday to reduce her seven-year sentence.

The three-judge court also received a sum of €27,000 which was raised by relatives of Helen Harrison (50), Old Court, Ballincurrig, Leamlara, Cork. That amount is to go to the credit union as compensation.

In allowing Harrison's appeal against the severity of her sentence, the Court of Criminal Appeal substituted a five-year sentence, suspending the last two years, meaning she will serve three years.

The court was told by Mr Tom Creed SC, for Harrison, that the seven-year sentence topped a "league table" relating to others sentenced on larceny and fraud charges. Investment broker Tony Taylor had received five years for fraud and conversion of £475,000, an elderly couple received a suspended sentence for defrauding investors of £1 million, another man received 12 weeks for VAT fraud of £200,000 while a woman was jailed for 12 months for social welfare fraud of about €50,000.

Harrison has already served 17 months in jail on foot of the sentence imposed by Judge Anthony Murphy at Cork Circuit Criminal Court in February 2001 after she pleaded guilty to stealing sums amounting to £256,000 between 1993 and 1998.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Geoghegan, with Mr Justice Kearns and Mr Justice McKechnie, said this form of larceny by a clerk was aggravated because, as Harrison was the oldest employee in the credit union, she held a position of complete trust which she had "grossly abused".

The court was urged to look at the surrounding circumstances of the case and impose an appropriate sentence. It was told there were special circumstances surrounding Harrison in that she had two adopted Romanian children, and her husband - whom the court was told was under psychiatric care - was not capable of bringing them up. Her mother died just before sentence and her children were very close to her.

It was clear imprisonment had disastrous consequences in this case but the court could only take these into account in a limited way, Mr Justice Geoghegan said.

Imprisonment had serious consequences for many offenders and in a recent case the court had heard there were several women serving prison sentences who had to have their children with them because there was no one else to take care of them.

The court considered, having regard to the seriousness of the offences, that there had to be a custodial sentence. However, given a list of precedents and the court's knowledge of sentencing in general that, a seven-year sentence was unusually high and not appropriate. Partial suspended sentences were imposed regularly by the courts and this was a case where it was peculiarly appropriate to do so. The court would substitute a five-year sentence for the original seven years and suspend the last two years.

Earlier, Mr Creed said the original sentence was in the highest range and such sentences were generally reserved only for violence. His client had no previous convictions and was unlikely to reoffend.

Mr Creed also noted that a co- accused - Ms Anne Harrington (39), Kilnap Place, Farranree, Cork, who pleaded guilty to stealing £33,000 from Blackpool Credit Union - was given a six-year sentence but was freed after serving a month in prison.

He said Ms Harrington had benefited from a review of sentence which was provided for when sentence was imposed on October 27th, 2000. However, the Supreme Court subsequently delivered a judgment disapproving of such inbuilt reviews and that option was then unavailable to Harrison. In response to Mr Justice Kearns, Mr Creed said he accepted that the trial judge had in mind that Harrison would serve an effective three years in prison.

Mr Fergal Foley, for the DPP, said the various cases referred to by Mr Creed showed Harrison had received a sentence "at the very top of the league". Mr Foley added that Mr Justice Kearns's remark in relation to the effective sentence which was in the mind of the trial judge was "very apt".