Woman acquitted of theft

A woman has been found not guilty of the theft of over €102,000 from a retired chef’s bank account after a judge said the evidence was confused and inconclusive.

Sandra Doyle, aged 37, denied stealing the money from the AIB bank account of Fergus Brugha, aged 62, over the course of three years.

Ms Doyle of McCabe’s Villas, Booterstown, Dublin, and formerly of Meadowgate, Knockmullen, Gorey, Co Wexford, had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 131 charges of theft at AIB Bank, Morehampton Road, Donnybrook, Dublin, between September 2008 and May 2010.

The disputed transactions included payments to Ticketmaster, online motor tax, and a veterinary clinic.

Judge Patrick McCartan directed the jury to find Ms Doyle not guilty after telling it there was not enough evidence to sustain the charges. He described the evidence of the alleged victim as “entirely confused and inconclusive”.

Mr Brugha went to gardaí in 2010 after he became concerned about transactions on his bank statement. In January 2011, investigating gardaí arrested Ms Doyle . She told gardaí that she didn’t make any of the payments or transactions without permission and denied stealing Mr Brugha’s bank card details and using it to pay bills.

The judge commented the complainant had very poor recall about his own financial affairs and had a very poor fix in time and detail.