LOTTO ADDICT’S €19K TICKET THEFT

A SHOP assistant who became addicted to playing the lotto and had stolen at least €19,000 of tickets from the small convenience Killarney shop in which she worked for several years, has been given a suspended sentence.

In fact it was impossible to quantify exactly how much Tara Egan had stolen from Doyle’s Topshop Petrol Station Muckross Road in the period 2011 to 2014, Tralee Circuit Criminal Court was told at the adjourned sentencing hearing.

Sample charges had been brought after a painstaking garda investigation outlined by Killarney based Detective Garda Bill Stack.

Tara Egan, aged 28, of Arbutus Grove, Killarney pleaded guilty to 17 sample counts of theft in that she stole National Lottery Lotto 5-4-3-2-1 tickets, the property of Billy Doyle, at Doyle’s Topshop, Muckross Road, Killarney, between August 20, 2011 and August 2014.

It was “impossible to quantify” how often Ms Egan had played the Lotto on the shop’s machine, and it was also impossible to quantify how much she had won, Detective Garda Bill Stack said.

The sales value of the used tickets found by her former partner in clearing out her bedroom, amounted to €19,492; only €800 of winnings could be determined.

The owner, Billy Doyle said he had to close his shop, he was suffering health problems and the matter was further complicated in that Ms Egan had been in a serious relationship with Peter Doyle, the owner’s son, the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee was told.

Only when the relationship broke up, and Peter Doyle was cleaning out the couple’s house were the piles of used lotto tickets with a value of just under €20,000 discovered and the theft uncovered.

Ms Egan began employment in 2007 and worked in the shop for eight years. A relationship developed between herself and Peter Doyle. In 2014, difficulties arose, she went out on sick leave, ceasing employment in September, 2014.

“In the course of vacating their accommodation, Peter Doyle discovered a considerable amount of used lotto tickets spanning the period 2011 to 2014,” Judge Thomas E O’Donnell said.

She had been taking the tickets and not paying for them and attempts to quantify the exact amount had not been possible but “the conservative estimate” was in excess of €19,000.

Billy Doyle had told the court in a vicitim impact statement he had to close his shop in 2015 and his health was affected, the more so as Tara Egan was a trusted employee and considered one of the family.

Ms Egan, a mother of three now, was unemployed and there was no realistic prospect of compensation, the judge said.

Barrister for Ms Egan, Katie O’Connell said her client was deeply remorseful and her client’s gambling addiction issue had been addressed.

She had accepted her responsibility and apologised to Mr Doyle.

The judge imposed a sentence of two years and five months, suspending it.