Man stole €18k from Santa trip charity

A jury has convicted a travel agent of stealing over €18,000 from a charity he founded for terminally ill children following 42 minutes of deliberations.

John, also known Con, Murphy, aged 66, of Church Road, Killiney, Dublin was found guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court of writing cheques from the account of the Children to Lapland Appeal and lodging them in his own account.

Patrick Reynolds, defending, claimed he used his personal account for many business transactions related to the charity and his now defunct travel agency United Travel. He said there was no intention to keep the money for his personal gain.