Worker’s €66,000 theft from County Sligo playschool almost caused it to close

 • 2h ago

A 29 year old woman stole €66,595 from a community playschool where she worked over a six month period.

Before Sligo Circuit Court was Emma Louise McLoughlin, of Crozon Park, Sligo who was charged with 60 counts of theft from Kilmacowen Community Preschool and Play Group, Kilmacowen, Ballisodare, Co Sligo from June 16th 2020 to December 2020.

McLoughlin pleaded guilty to six sample counts of theft from Bank of Ireland, Stephen St, Sligo the property of Kilmacowen Community Pre-school and Play Group. The amounts were €2,5000, €8,000, €5,000, €2,000, €2,000 and €400.

Mr Leo Mulrooney BL, with State Solicitor Ms Elisa McHugh, prosecuted while Mr Des Dockery SC and Mr Eoin McGovern BL instructed by McGovern Walsh solicitors appeared for McLoughlin.

Detective Garda Terry Farrelly of Sligo Garda Station, led by Mr Mulrooney told the court the accused was facing 60 counts of theft and was pleading guilty to six counts on a full facts basis.

A statement was read out from Ms Elaine O’Gorman, chairperson of Kilmacowen Community Preschool and Play Group who said it was a community based school looking after 17 to 18 children from the ages of 2-5 and the creche was run by a manager and two staff. McLoughlin had previously been chairperson of the school for a short period.

The offending came to light on January 4th 2021. Manager Brid Ferry sent Ms O’Gorman a text message informing her that a letter had been received from Bank of Ireland informing them that a standing order was refused and went unpaid as there were insufficient funds in the organisation’s account.

This came to a surprise to both Ms O’Gorman and Ms Ferry and some panic arose among the committee members. Ms O’Gorman and another committee member, Mr Barry Doyle tried to make contact with McLoughlin and they went to her house and spoke to her ex-partner who said she was in bed after being discharged from hospital.

The following day, McLoughlin texted to say she was resting after surgery and she would speak when she was feeling better. The accounts were scrutinised and it was established that €66,595 was missing.

It was obvious from looking at the statements there was a significant number of transactions to accounts in the name of McLoughlin, both a Permanent TSB and Revolut account. McLoughlin was the only person with access to the online account of the organisation. Her responsibilities included paying staff which was done manually through the online banking system.

Efforts were made to speak to McLoughlin. She phoned Ms O’Gorman on January 7th saying she had taken the money and that she had personal health issues and was diagnosed with a personality disorder.

She was asked if there was anyone who she could turn to to seek help to make amends and she said she would ask her father. She was given until January 11th to make amends. She sent a text on January 7th saying she was waiting to miscarry and she suffered a miscarraige on January 9th.

She told gardaí her father and aunt were not in a position to help.

Ms O’Gorman pointed out to McLoughlin that she had a 171 registration Renault car and suggested to her to sell this, but she refused and said it was the only means of transport available to her.

The matter was then reported to gardaí. Ms O’Gorman in her statement said the figure was ‘huge’ and the financial loss to a community preschool and to the staff, volunteers, parents and children was devastating to them.

They were struggling to stay open with wage subsidies just keeping them going.

They didn’t know what lay ahead and the loss of the money was extremely significant.

Dt Gda Farrelly outlined to Mr Mulrooney he was tasked with investigating the case and set about retrieving all the bank statements needed.

The accused was arrested on January 6th 2022 and she confirmed she was a committee member of the organisation throughout 2020. She was the mother of two children and her son had attended the school.

When asked about the money, McLoughlin made full admissions and she accepted she transferred money to her Permanent TSB and Revolut accounts. She told gardaí it was something that got out of hand. She said she didn’t have any debts or loans.

She said during lockdown she had been working as a beautician but lost her job and became addicted to gambling online. She thought she could pay back the money but it just spiralled out of control.

She said she was gambling regularly every week and sometimes every day. She was also buying ‘stupid things’ through online shopping.

She bought a new car and traded in an old car, the new car cost €17k and she had to pay €8k and had used some of the organisation’s money for this.

When asked if she still had the car she said no, she sold it for €14k in July of that year and used the money to buy a second car worth €2,500. When asked where the balance was she said it was now ‘gone’.

When asked by gardaí what she spent it on, she replied the same thing, gambling. She denied knowing the amount stolen was €66,595.

However, Ms O’Gorman told gardaí at the earliest stage she had told McLoughlin the amount and she was shocked.

She was asked if she had used money to buy the car and she said yes. McLoughlin was asked if she had any plans to pay the money back and she said she would set up a payment plan. She said she didn’t realise the amount and when asked by gardaí if she was told the amount previously, she said no.

She said she had approached her step father and aunt about helping with refunding the money.

She was unemployed and living alone with her two children. When asked if she had sought help for her alcohol consumption and gambling problem, she said not yet.

She admitted she had been drinking throughout lockdown and had mental health difficulties, including suffering depression and anxiety. She said her drinking was under control but she was still gambling.

She was asked did she realise the damage caused to the school and she said no she always believed she would pay it back.

McLoughlin told gardaí she was so annoyed at what she had done and was filled with regret and was so sorry for the position she put the school in. She had no previous convictions, Mr Mulrooney said.

In a Victim Impact Statement read out from Ms O’Gorman on behalf of members of the school, she said Kilmacowen Community Pre-School and Playgroup is a small non-profit making setting.

It is a registered charity and is run from the old Kilmacowen National School building which was built in 1846.

This community preschool was founded in 1983 and prided itself on being amongst the longest running preschools in the county.

The committee has always consisted of parents who availed of their services. Emma Louise was part of this committee, serving many roles during her time on the board.

The offences range from June 2020 until December 2020 and were discovered in early January 2021 upon the realisation that staffs’ wages were not paid over the Christmas period.

Members of the serving committee and staff at the time were shocked, horrified and betrayed upon the realisation of her actions.

This time period caused immense stress for the members of the committee and staff in their personal and family life.

“Furthermore we had to deal with the worry and concern about the viability of whether the school was able to open our doors to the young students who were in desperate need of our services, given the context of Covid-19 lockdowns.

The service was only able to be provided in the interim due to the Temporary Wage Subsidy at the time.”

They were able to open in March 2021 due to saving running costs as a result of school closure.

“Fortunately, we later availed of Fidelity Guarantee Insurance cover. However, there was a concern about turning to people in the community for fundraising as a registered charity.

This impacted the positive intention of the staff to develop the school to meet the development needs of students.”

She said the stressful circumstance of worrying about meeting the needs of the young children, the committee members and staff felt humiliated. This was further compounded by the damage to the school’s reputation in the community.

The community has worked hard over the years to fundraise in attempts to equip the school with provisions and had always received positive support from the community, which she said they felt they let down as a result of these events.

Members reported feelings of frustration, anger and disappointment at the levels of deceit and disregard that McLoughlin portrayed when they probed her for answers and accountability.

This level of distress was also passed on to the serving staff members who experienced their own level of worry and humiliation of being connected to the issue.

When asked by Mr Mulrooney if any restitution was paid to date, Dt Gda Farrelly replied no.

Mr Dockery told the court his client brought the sum of €2,000 to court which he said on the face of it was a low return.

He said his client was 26 at the time of the offending and it coincided with a miscarriage suffered and she turned to online gambling and alcohol.

The thefts were made in the sums of hundreds and thousands, one particular one was for €8k.

It was a situation that got out of control and there was no obvious evidence of a grandiose lifestyle apart from the car.

Judge Keenan Johnson said McLouglhlin sold a car after this came to light and spent the money on gambling even though the school committee asked her to sell the car and she had refused.

He also commented that it was extraordinary that two signatures were not needed regarding making transactions from the community organisation’s account and that governance should involve banks too insisting on two signatures on these accounts.

He said it was a case McLoughlin was always going to get caught. Mr Dockery said his client was looking after her father who was diagnosed with bowel cancer and is on Jobseeker’s allowance of €260 per week.

He said the Probation Reports were broadly favourable. She expressed genuine remorse and regretted her actions. She was at a moderate risk of reoffending.

McLoughlin apologised in court to the school. She said she wanted to apologise to every worker and volunteer for everything she had done. She said she was so ashamed for her actions and wanted to do everything to repay it back.

She said she had been applying for jobs but because of the case she was unable to get work.

Judge Johnson said there were 60 charges from 16th June 2020 to 30th September 2020. The funds were used to feed her gambling addiction and other items such as buying a car.

Judge Johnson said Ms O’Gorman’s statement spoke of the shock and horror she and other committee members felt at the deceit.

He had enormous sympathy and empathy for Ms O’Gorman and her colleagues and volunteers helping the community and providing an essential service to parents who were both working and satisfied they were sending their children to a safe and happy environment.

The judge said this type of work goes unnoticed and he knows himself from being involved in school boards over the years, that a huge amount of work goes into them behind the scenes.

He said Ms O’Gorman and her school colleagues suffered a horrendous and egregious breach of trust with such significant amounts of money being taken.

He said it was an outrageous breach of trust causing stress to the school, committee, staff, board, parents and children. The board had to be commended for the way they navigated through such difficulties and kept the school going.

It was a great achievement and they should be so proud, Judge Johnson said.

It was an extremely serious offence and its effects on the local community. He said in cases like these, restitution has to be to the forefront.

The aggravating factors included that €66,595 was a huge amount taken over a six month period.

There was a persistent element of planning and pre-meditation. McLoughlin was put in a considerable position and it was a gross breach of trust.

It does point to one thing in relation to governance and all groups should have two Treasurers and he said it was not a criticism of the board but something to learn and banks should also be insisting on two signatures.

He said another aggravating factor was that when McLoughlin was contacted by the school board and it was suggested she sell her car she point blank refused, then she sold the car and gambled the money.

The mitigating factors were the early guilty plea and there was a degree of co-operation with gardaí and she did experience remorse.

He said she seemed to be addressing her alcohol and gambling. He said it was indicative of the type of society we are living in now it is far too easy for people to gamble online.

He said betting companies need to take far greater control over the damage it does to society.

He said McLoughlin no longer seemed to be struggling with drink and gambling and is assisting her father who thankfully seems to be doing okay.

He said he was going to adjourn sentencing to have full details of job applications she made, responses to job applications, full details of her mental health condition, background regarding her ex-partner which does appear to be a factor, full and concrete proposals to reimburse the funds and an updated Probation Report.

He ordered in the meantime the €2,000 to be paid to the school and he wants another €2,000 in court on October 3rd.