Gambling Addiction

Gambling addict sentenced for defrauding employer of £326,000

A 27-year-old-man, described as a ‘gentle giant’ by colleagues was jailed for huge fraud at Dungannon Magistrates Court last week, according to Tyrone Times newspaper.

Leo McGirr has been sentenced to twenty months in prison after he swindled £326,000 out of his employers.
The man, who had racked up huge gambling debts, stole the money over a period of two years from Tyrone Tiling Services Ltd to fund his gambling addiction.
McGrirr started working for the company in 2004 as an administrative assistant, and in May 2007 he started writing fraudulent cheques to himself.
He forged his employer’s signature and made up fake customer names, forging the invoices to conceal the fraud.
Defence Barrister, Brian Fee, Q.C., said that McGirr had cooperated fully with the investigation, shown genuine remorse, and had demonstrated a determination to rid himself of his gambling addiction.
“This is a sad and frightening warning of the dangers arising from a gambling addiction,” he told the court.
The court also heard how before his debt problems he was a hard-working man, who contributed positively in the community and came from a well respected family.
A former employer of his gave a character reference and described him as ‘a gentle giant’ who enjoyed helping others.
When McGirr started gambling he used his own money from his earnings and savings, before borrowing from a number of banks and credit companies.
But when his addiction worsened he began to write fake cheques to himself to help fund his addiction.
Mr Fee said that the defendant believed when he wrote his first fraudulent cheque he thought he was going to get caught. However, when his crime wasn’t rattled his addiction got worse until he was betting more than £100 on various stakes everyday.
After discovering online casinos his situation deteriorated further, and he started making thousands of transactions on a daily basis, leaving him sinking into a ‘black hole’ of debt.
When his employer became suspicious, Mcgirr came clean and revealed the full extent of his fraud by showing his bank statements.
Sr Consilio Fitzgerald from the Cuan Mhuire Addiction centre, who was called up as a witness by the defence, told the court that gambling was one of the worst kinds of addiction, in her experience, and that it is almost impossible to beat.
McGrirr had taken part in a twelve week course at the Galway centre, and she said he had ‘taken to heart’ the ethos of the course.
The defendant had also helped others with their addictions and started volunteering two days a week at the centre.
Judge David McFarland recognised that the defendant had shown good character and contributed positively to society before he committed the fraud.
He blamed the easy availability of credit and gambling websites for contributing to McGrirr’s debt problems and downfall.
“There are many victims in this case, not only your family, who have suffered in terms of their reputation, but also your employers and the employees of the company,” he said.

“To some extent you are coming out of this abyss, but this will be a lifelong problem with which you will battle.”
McGrirr pleaded guilty to 169 counts of fraud from May 2007 to May 2009.
As well as twenty months in prison the judge said that he must be on probation for a year after his release.
However he did not impose any compensation order on the defendant.
By Dawn Murden