A woman who became addicted to playing the lottery while working for two of the luckiest Lotto shops in the State regularly stole scratch cards, Lotto receipts and other goods from one of them.
A sum of £38,000 was found to be missing from the books of Mr Pierce Hickey's general store in Skibbereen, Co Cork. Mr Hickey told the Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday that he was nearly put out of business by the loss and had to borrow from the bank to keep going.
"I've been in business 30 years and it showed a good profit until the pilfering started. Since it was stopped, business has been good again, but we've had a lot of sleepless nights," said Mr Hickey.
Mary Whooley (41), a mother of two teenage children and from Union Hall in west Cork, pleaded guilty to 10 specimen charges out of 46 of stealing scratch cards, Lotto receipts, cash, cigarettes and other goods from Hickey's between December 1996 and July 1997. The total amount involved was £1,783.
Det Sgt John Healy said Whooley worked for Hickey's for three years and had also worked for Thomas's newsagents in Skibbereen. The Lotto jackpot had been won nine times between the two shops, with winnings totalling £10 million.
"Skibbereen has the reputation of being the Lotto capital of Ireland and these two shops have most of the winnings," said Det Sgt Healy.
He agreed with Mr John Devlin, defending, that there was "an element of addiction" in the thefts by Whooley, who had no previous convictions and was well known in the town. Whooley told the court that she did not know why she committed the thefts, but she was "truly sorry" and found her court appearance "degrading and frightening".
Judge Anthony Murphy asked her if she admitted responsibility for the loss of £38,000. "You made a statement accepting this," he said. Whooley said she did not recall this.
Mr Devlin said Whooley was the sole breadwinner in the family as her husband had a heart condition and could not work. "She was tempted by the massive sums won in the town. There was Lotto fever in Skibbereen and she succumbed to temptation," he said.
Judge Murphy said there would have to be realistic compensation paid - the £850 already handed in was not enough - and he adjourned the case to October. "If a realistic sum is not paid, the full rigours of the law will apply and she will go to jail for a very long time," he said.