Manager 'betrayed' creche by stealing €80k for Florida holidays and house renovations

Judge Nolan sentenced the woman to three years' imprisonment, but suspended the final 18 months of the sentence

The charity-run playgroup helped single mothers return to work. File photo

An office manager who stole €80,000 from a charity-run playgroup and spent it on house renovations and family holidays to Florida has been jailed for 18 months.

Avril O'Brien (51) engaged in “total betrayal” when she stole the money from Loreto playgroup in Tallaght, Dublin, leaving the centre in difficulty paying staff wages and bills, the playgroup director, Sister Teresa McCullagh, said in her victim impact statement to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.