Woman who stole €18,000 from her mother jailed for nine months

A woman who stole nearly €18,000 from her elderly mother’s account has been sentenced to nine months in prison after she failed to make realistic efforts to bring compensation to court.

Clare Armstrong, aged 51, of Upper Rathmines Rd, Dublin, took the money from her mother’s bank account with her ATM card over a nine-month period from Dec 2008 to Aug 2009.

The thefts took place at various bank machines in Rathmines and Rathgar, and it was the woman’s brother who discovered and reported the thefts as their mother, who is in her 80s, is in a nursing home.