Brown Thomas worker stole €20,000 in vouchers, court told

A former Brown Thomas employee who stole over €20,000 from the store in a gift voucher scam has been ordered by Judge Desmond Hogan to carry out 240 hours community service.

Adam Brennan’s scam was rumbled as a result of an error by a Brinks Allied security company operative who accidentally left behind an envelope which was found to contain only gift vouchers numbered in sequence instead of a mixture of cash and vouchers from tills in the store.

Brennan was then filmed pocketing an envelope after a security camera was secretly installed above the place he worked and he was arrested on the street when he left the building five minutes later.

Brennan (aged 26) from Landscape Park in Churchtown pleaded guilty to four counts of stealing booklets of vouchers which he substituted for cash on dates between April 27, 2004 and October 16, 2005.

Garda Conor O Braonain told prosecuting counsel, Mr Kerida Naidoo BL, that he calculated Brennan had taken a total of €20,160 on about eight separate occasions.

Defence counsel, Mr Paul Carroll BL, told Judge Hogan that Brennan had repaid Brown Thomas in full with a loan from his father.

Gda O Braonain said Brennan worked part time on Sundays and Bank Holidays in the Brown Thomas cash office. As part of his job he had sole responsibility for envelopes of cash and vouchers from the various tills around the store.

These envelopes were then handed on to Brinks Allied but on October 9, 2005 two envelopes were accidentally left behind by the security firm.

Gda O Braonain told Mr Naidoo that the fraud was discovered by Brown Thomas’ financial controller, Ms Tara Barker, who noticed that one of the envelopes which was supposed to contain a mix of vouchers and cash contained only vouchers valued €3,400.

"These vouchers were unused, spotless and folded together in one lot."

Gda O Braonain said a concealed security camera was installed and the next time Brennan was working he was watched. After observing him for a lengthy period of time he saw Brennan pocket an envelope.

"He had created a wall of folders and files around the area he was working in to hide himself but the camera was above him and clearly picked up his movements."

Brennan left the Brown Thomas building around five minutes later and was arrested on the street outside. A search of his car disclosed two books of Brown Thomas gift vouchers, largely filled with stubs, as well as other vouchers, known as Bonus Bonds, worth €75.

Gda O Braonain said Brennan was very co-operative with gardaí. He told gardaí he had credit card debts worth €4,400 and used the cash he took for day to day living costs, as well as paying off his ‘maxed-out’ credit card. He had also bought a bicycle worth €2,000.

Mr Carroll said Brennan had graduated with a Certificate in Applied Science from the Dublin Institute of Technology before pursuing a career in outdoor education. At the time of the incident he was having difficulty finding work in that area.

He had worked in Brown Thomas for a number of years without incident but had run up debts after moving out of home and into rented accommodation. He had never been in trouble before and had not come to the attention of gardaí since his arrest.

Mr Carroll said Brennan had since found employment with a Catholic youth organisation working with young people from disadvantaged areas.

Judge Hogan said that while stealing from an employer was a serious betrayal of trust he did not think a custodial sentence was appropriate in this case and he ordered Brennan to 240 hours community service.