A FORMER garda who stole thousands of euro from colleagues and an elderly woman has been sentenced to three years in jail.
David Foran (30) responded to a burglary at an elderly woman’s home and found she had hidden nearly €2,000 in her bedroom. He later returned to steal the cash. He also collected about €3,000 from his Garda colleagues to organise events which he then used to pay his own debts.
“A meaner crime is difficult to find,” Judge Mary Ellen Ring commented as she sentenced Foran. The judge said Foran’s breach of trust was more important than the money he stole. She noted the Garda motto is to protect and serve, but he had done neither for the then 82-year-old woman.
“He violated her safety to take money she had worked for 40 years to be entitled to,” Judge Ring said. “This violation took place while he was wearing the Garda uniform.” “This undermines the trust elderly people have in gardaí. I can only hope that trust can be regained.”
Judge Ring said Foran exploited his relationship with his colleagues to take their money so he could alleviate his own problems. She noted he was deeply in debt and that his take-home pay was as low as €25 a week after debt repayments.
However, she pointed out that there is help available for those in debt within the Gardaand in wider society and that Foran did not avail of this help. She accepted that Foran pleaded guilty, avoiding the need for the elderly woman to give evidence. She also noted his previous good record and his psychiatric problems before suspending the final six months of the sentence.
Defence counsel Ronan Munro said: “He has lost his chosen career, his marriage has fallen apart and he has ruined the good name of himself and his family.”
Foran of Kinsale, Co Cork, and formerly stationed at Fitzgibbon Street Garda station, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the theft of €1,950 from a woman in Phibsborough between October 10th and 17th, 2009.
He also pleaded guilty to two counts of stealing money collected from his colleagues.
Det Insp Francis Sweeney told prosecuting counsel Michael Bowman that Foran responded to a burglary at the home of the elderly woman. Burglars had broken into the sheltered housing where she lived but left without taking anything.
When Foran arrived with a colleague, the woman showed them the pillow cases where she kept her money. She received a pension from An Post where she worked all her life and kept the money at home as she didn’t trust banks.
The woman left for Cork the next day for a week during which time Foran returned. He gained access to the property by telling the management he was continuing his investigation and while there he took the money.
When she discovered the money was missing, the woman phoned gardaí who began an investigation.
After hearing the evidence, Judge Ring asked Insp Sweeney about the wellbeing of the woman. Insp Sweeney said the woman’s health had deteriorated and she believes this is a result of the ordeal. She is now living in a nursing home.
The court also heard how Foran organised a number of collections for social events for his Garda colleagues, including a Christmas party in Jurys Hotel in Limerick.
He collected cash for the event but used this to pay his debts instead. When he had to make part-payment for the hotel, he used a credit card number belonging to a colleague.