School supervisor may retract guilty plea in fraud case

There was a dramatic development in the case of a former school supervisor who had already pleaded guilty before a jury of defrauding the Department of Education of more than €24,000.

The legal team for John Fintan Brett, due to be sentenced yesterday, indicated to Sligo Circuit Court that he may change his plea because a co-accused was acquitted by the same jury.

Judge Raymond Fullam agreed that the prosecution should have transcripts of the other case in which Edel Byron, former personal assistant to the principal of Summerhill College, Sligo, was acquitted of assisting Brett to obtain the money through an online payments system.