Hurling legend DJ Carey to face month-long fraud trial in summer 2025

He is accused of deception and forgery by persuading 23 people to donate funds after allegedly fraudulently claiming he needed money for cancer treatment

Former Kilkenny hurler, DJ Carey, “made no reply” when charged with the offences. File picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

The trial of legendary Kilkenny hurler DJ Carey, who faces charges of deception and forgery, has been set for July 2, 2025.

Having requested a trial date, it indicates he will be contesting the charges.

The trial is expected to last three to four weeks, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard on Friday. However, Mr Carey’s defence counsel Richard Downey BL indicated it may run over into a five-week trial.

“It’s very early days at this stage,” he added.

The former GAA star faces 19 counts of deception and two charges for using false instruments between 2014 and 2022. The five-time All-Ireland winner is accused of deception and forgery by persuading 23 people to donate funds after allegedly fraudulently claiming he needed money for cancer treatment.

At a sitting before Ms Justice Orla Crowe in the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin, a trial date of July 15, 2025, was originally set but this was revised given it would be unlikely to finish before the court took its summer break in August.

The hurling legend appeared in court on Friday for the brief hearing wearing a navy suit and an open-necked white shirt.

Mr Carey, 52, with an address in Kilkenny, is accused of dishonestly inducing individuals and couples over nine years to make monetary payments to him after allegedly fraudulently claiming to have cancer and that he needed finances to obtain treatment.

It is alleged the offences were with the intention of making a gain for himself or causing loss to another.

There are two charges for using a false instrument to induce another person to accept it as genuine. The offences allegedly occurred at an unknown location in the State.

At a previous sitting at Blanchardstown District Court, Garda Sergeant Michael Burke said the accused “made no reply” when charged with the offences.

His solicitor Edward Hughes had asked his client's address and phone number not be read out in court. Judge John O'Leary told Mr Carey that he must reside at his current address, sign on at his local Garda station once a week, surrender his passport and not apply for a replacement.