‘Woman told carer about missing money,’ court told

A CO-WORKER of a woman accused of having stolen thousands of euro from their employer, an elderly stroke victim, said she felt uneasy after looking at the elderly woman’s bank statements and seeing ‘far more transactions… than would be normal’, a court heard yesterday.

Carer Sabrina O’Connor, 37, has pleaded not guilty to 13 charges of theft and one count of deception in Dublin 13 on dates between 2010 and 2011. The State alleges that Ms O’Connor stole thousands of euro from the woman’s bank account while she worked as her care supervisor.

Yesterday, Bridget O’Neill, a carer who worked for the same company as Ms O’Connor, told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that she only realised money had gone missing when the elderly woman showed her a bank statement and said: ‘Have a look for yourself’. Ms O’Neill said she became uneasy, because ‘there were far more transactions on it than would be normal’.

She told Noel Devitt SC, prosecuting, that the woman couldn’t leave the house without assistance and wasn’t able to do anything for herself due to a physical disability following a stroke. ‘I looked after her food, her washing, her clothes and I did her beloved Lotto for her, too,’ she said.

Ms O’Neill said she paid for grocery shopping by taking cash from a purse that was kept in a drawer and would leave a receipt there afterwards. She told the jury that initially she found building a relationship with the woman difficult, but said they eventually bonded over a love of soap operas and became firm friends. Under cross-examination by Oisín Clarke BL, the witness said that the woman gifted her €5,000 on one occasion and €3,000 on another.

She told Mr Clarke that she was aware that the woman helped other people out, including her next-door-neighbour, who was in the process of getting a pilot’s licence. Ms O’Neill said she was aware that the woman had also loaned money to Ms O’Connor, of The Green, Dunboyne Castle, Dunboyne, Co. Meath.

Earlier in the trial, the alleged victim told the jury that she agreed to lend the defendant money because she needed an operation on her leg. When asked if the accused had paid her back, the woman told the jury there was ‘no way’ this had occurred.

Previously, Mr Devitt told the jury it would hear that the accused had access to certain of the woman’s documents and information. He said there would be evidence that Ms O’Connor stole a €15,000 bank draft which she used to secure an option to purchase or rent a house, and used a stolen €8,500 bank draft to buy a Land Rover.