Ivor Callely withdraws appeal of term for fraudulent claims

An ex-Fianna Fáil politician and Minster of State who admitted fraudulently claiming €4,207.45 in expenses from the Oireachtas on forged mobile phone invoices, has withdrawn his appeal against sentence.

Ivor Callely, aged, 57, of St Lawrence, Clontarf, had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four counts of using invoices believing them to be false instruments at Leinster House, Kildare St, between November 2007 and December 2009 while he was a member of the Seanad.

He was sentencted to five months imprisonment by Judge Mary Ellen Ring on July 28, 2014. Callely had lodged an appeal against the severity of his sentence in person in 2014. However, the office of the Court of Appeal recently received a letter from him, in person, notifying the court of his intention to withdraw his appeal.