A 63-year-old former school bursar who stole €500,000 from her employer over five years to fund a gambling addiction has been jailed for a year.
Mary Higgins, from Hawthorn Lawn in Castleknock, pleaded guilty to stealing €500,000 from Mount Sackville Secondary School in Chapelizod, between 1 January 2012 and 23 March 2017.
She was also a former pupil of the school and in total had spent 12 years as a pupil and 24 years working there.
Judge Orla Crowe said she had been in a position of trust and controlled and lodged all the money coming into the school. She was also the main signatory to the school's bank account.
The judge said Higgins was in an unusual situation for a woman of her age. Her whole life had revolved around the school until her gambling problem spiralled out of control and she committed an "egregious breach of trust".
Judge Crowe said the offence involved a considerable amount of money over an extended period of time.
In mitigation, she said Higgins had pleaded guilty and had sought treatment for her gambling problem. She had also sold all her assets and signed over her pension to pay back the money she stole and had repaid more than €470,000 - the vast bulk of the sum she had taken.
She was a carer for her 92-year-old mother and had been assessed at a low risk of reoffending. The judge said she had fallen from grace, and the delay in the prosecution was not of Higgins's making.
However, the judge said the court had to mark the theft of so much money over such a long time with a sentence which would include a custodial element.
She imposed a sentence of three years but suspended the final two years.
The sentencing hearing last month heard Higgins told gardaí that she had hoped and prayed every day for "a big win" to pay the school back, but that the hole kept getting deeper.
The court heard that she was very remorseful in her interviews with gardaí. She told them that she had spent 36 years at the school, was not married, had no children and that her job was her life.
Gardaí involved in the case said she showed true remorse and was a pleasure to deal with.
The court also heard she had attended the Rutland Centre and still attended Gamblers Anonymous where she had given her time voluntarily as a secretary.
She had also qualified as a counsellor and was providing voluntary counselling to others.
Detective Garda Brendan O’Hora said that all of the money had been used to feed gambling; bank statements showed significant amounts were paid to large bookmakers, and she had been allowed to continue to bet.
Under questioning from Higgins's defence counsel, Ronan Kennedy, Detective Garda O’Hora said Higgins had tackled her issues "head on" and had gone above and beyond in tackling them, in terms of what he had seen in his career.
Mr Kennedy described the case as "remarkably sad and tragic" and said his client had asked him to publicly apologise to the entire school community.
The court heard Higgins's father had alcohol and gambling problems.
The court heard some responsibilities were removed from Higgins in 2012 and this had impacted her self-esteem and meant she had more time on her hands. She had become engaged in gambling and studying formulas, and bets became all consuming.
Her brother, who had travelled from New York for the court case, wrote of how "gambling has destroyed a life so well lived in kindness".
The judge was told the matter had taken so long to come forward to court due to the length of time it took to complete the forensic accountant’s report.
