Welfare fraudster ordered out of country

A man caught fraudulently claiming social welfare payments in Cork has been ordered to leave the country by Monday, with a judge warning she would prefer “never to see him again”.

Victor Thomas, aged 34, a father of two from Zimbabwe, was ordered to leave the country by midnight on Monday after he was caught claiming more than €6,000 in fraudulent benefits.

Judge Angela Ní Chondúin told Thomas that even allowing him to remain in the country until Monday was a “long time”.