Man who stole almost €500k in welfare facing sentence

A father of four who used false IDs to fraudulently claim almost half a million euro in social welfare payments over a 12 year period is to be sentenced today.

David Church of Parnell Street in Dublin city centre and formerly Monadreen, Thurles, Co Tipperary, faced 199 charges of unlawfully claiming Jobseekers' Allowance and Rent Allowance at various post offices around Dublin between September 2002 and July 2013.

The 39-year-old pleaded guilty to 13 sample counts representing all the offences at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Mr Church stole over €478,000, or an average of €40,000 a year over the period of offending.

The fraud came to light after the Department of Social Protection used facial recognition software to establish that the same photo was being used on a number of social welfare identities.