Travel agent may avoid jail over charity theft

A travel agent convicted of stealing from a charity he founded for terminally ill children may avoid a prison sentence if he can repay the stolen money.

John, also known as Con, Murphy, aged 66, of Church Rd, Killiney, Dublin, was convicted at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last week. He claimed the charity, The Children to Lapland Appeal, owed him €68,000 at the time.

The charity was founded by Murphy in 1987. It raised money from donations to bring terminally ill children on trips to see Santa in Lapland. Murphy also operated United Travel, a travel agent based in Stillorgan before it went out of business in 2012.