Opera House official stole over €60k for cocaine

The former assistant financial controller of Cork Opera House who created an elaborate scheme to steal more than €60,000 to pay for his cocaine habit was given a suspended jail sentence yesterday.

Barrie O’Mahony, aged 33, of 90 An Caisleán Grove, Ballin-collig, Co Cork, was given the suspended jail term by Judge Patrick J Moran at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

O’Mahony’s cocaine habit was costing him between €1,000 and €1,500 a week at its height.

Det Garda Ian Coughlan said this addiction resulted in O’Mahony creating a financial system at the Opera House for the payment of staff. However, instead of certain payments being made to staff they went to bank accounts from which he could access the money. Det Garda Coughlan said it occurred between May 2009 and Jul 2010.

Barrister Donal McCarthy said the accused’s parents had supported him financially to repay the Opera House in full and the defendant was now repaying his parents.

In that sense the defendant’s former employer was not at a loss, Mr McCarthy said.

Judge Moran said: “To create the system a lot of thought was put into it. It was an elaborate system. And on another view it was a simple system.”

O’Mahony apologised yesterday to management and staff and the board of directors of Cork Opera House for his behaviour.

The judge said these were very serious offences and represented a breach of trust.

However, the judge said the defendant seemed to have worked at addressing his addiction problems, co-operated with the investigation, and repaid the money in its entirety.

He concluded the defendant was unlikely to re-offend in the future.

The theft charges relate to different amounts of cash from €353 to €709 stolen by O’Mahony on various dates between Jun 18, 2009 and Jul 1, 2010. The total amount of money in the six charge sheets is just over €3,000. However, they represented sample charges.