Man stole from girlfriend to buy her engagement ring

A YOUNG man went on trial yesterday for stealing money from his girlfriend. He claimed he wanted to use the money to put a deposit on an engagement ring for her.

“That is the most ridiculous thing I have heard in my life,” Grace Brady said at Cork District Court, where her former boyfriend Duncan Harper of Cape Clear Island, Co Cork, was convicted by Judge David Riordan and fined €300.

He admitted using his then girlfriend’s bank card to withdraw €150, but he testified that all he wanted to do was use the money as a deposit for an engagement ring. He was always going to repay her, he said.

“It was done with the best of intentions. I even sent her flowers afterwards,” Harper, who has just turned 21, told investigating gardaí. He told Detective Sergeant Tim Murphy he wanted to use the money to book a weekend break at the Inchidoney Hotel, but he did not mention the ring.

In the witness box, he said: “My intention was to buy an engagement ring — to put a deposit down for one, and for the trip (to the hotel).” He said he had just started a new job and was not due to be paid for another few days, so he took the money out of his girlfriend’s account.

Inspector Michael Fitzpatrick put it to Harper: “You put a deposit down for the ring on November 4, 2005, to cover yourself because you knew the guards were involved from October 27, 2005.”

Grace Brady left home after her Leaving Cert in the summer of 2004. She and Harper started what they both described as a very strong relationship. However, shortly before the theft, Ms Brady said the relationship was very weak.

Harper said he panicked when she contacted the gardaí and he could not put the money back into her account as she had ‘frozen’ it. The guards showed her CCTV video of a person making a withdrawal at an ATM in Wilton at the relevant time on October 24, 2005, and it was Harper.

“We had a blazing row. I knew I was caught. I was very upset. She was very upset. I was hoping we could have carried on in the relationship and that she would not have found out,” he said.

Asked why he did not tell her when she first mentioned the money missing from her account, he said: “I was ashamed of what I did. I knew I was wrong.”