Post office manager jailed for stealing to fund gambling

A post office manager who stole €22,000 from his employer in order to fund his gambling addiction was jailed for four years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court with the final two years suspended.

Ken Dalton (aged 36) initially started gambling with the post office’s money in order to win enough money to hide a mistake he made which had left a €450 discrepancy in the accounts.

The gambling quickly got out of control and he was soon stealing up to €1,400 a week in order to win enough to hide the mounting thefts.

Dalton, of Upper Mount Pleasant Avenue, Rathmines had pleaded guilty to nine counts of theft totalling €22,000 from the Ringsend Post Office, Fitzwilliam Point between August and November 2008. The money was the property of post office owner, Mark Harrison.

Garda Alan Farrell told prosecuting counsel, Ms Gerardine Small BL, that Dalton was employed by Mr Harrison as the manager of the post office and was responsible for handling the money and balancing the books at the end of the day.

He made a mistake one day and there was a €450 hole in the accounts but he did not tell the owner because he did not want “to look incompetent.” He decided to take some money and place a bet with it in the hope of winning back the €450 so no one would notice his mistake.

He told gardaí he lost the bet and began to take more money to gamble with in the hope of hiding his losses. He would put on €500 accumulator bets on football matches, none of which won.

On December 1, 2008 an An Post official arrived and carried out an unannounced audit on the accounts. Dalton was in work at the time and went for lunch as normal but never returned. Later that day he texted Mr Harrison saying, “I f***ed up big time, I don’t know what to do.”

Gardai searched his house and found discarded betting slips all over his bedroom. Dalton was arrested shortly after. He made full admission and said he had a gambling problem which had gotten out of control.

Defence counsel, Mr Rory Staines BL, said Dalton had never being in trouble with gardaí before and came from a good family. He said he had worked as a manager in Spar for years before taking up the job as post office manager.

Mr Staines said he could not offer compensation to Mr Harrison because he was on social welfare but said that he wants to pay him back.

Judge Frank O’Donnell said Dalton “abused a position of high trust and you used the money to gamble on football matches yet you deny you have a gambling problem.”