A former Bank of Ireland worker who stole €144,089 from the bank to put in her own accounts and those of family members has been jailed for a year.
Alice Warnock, 55, told gardaí she was sorry and "felt like a fool" after the six-year fraud was uncovered while she was on sick leave in 2012.
The court heard that Warnock's family had been unaware she had lodged money into their accounts.
The mother-of-two of Rathbeale Court, Swords, Co Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to nine sample counts of stealing from bank branches on Talbot Street and Malahide Road, Coolock, between November 2004 and March 2012.
She has no previous convictions.
Judge Melanie Greally had adjourned the case having heard evidence in March last year.
She said today that Warnock had been in a position of considerable responsibility and noted that she had not confessed to the crime before it was detected.
Judge Greally accepted that "evidence of a psychological upset" in Warnock's life provided some insight into her actions.
She further accepted she has since made "full restitution" and was responsible towards her elderly parents.
"She has suffered loss of reputation and the loss of her livelihood," Judge Greally said before she took into account the fact that the case was heavily reported by the media.
"The offences were not committed in relation to a financial predicament, they were carried out to enhance her lifestyle," Judge Greally concluded before she imposed a 12-month sentence on the various counts to run concurrently.
The sentence hearing last year heard that Warnock, who had been employed with Bank of Ireland since 1980, took amounts ranging from €600 to €5,000 out of the bank's internal administration account.
