Posted by DJ Carey, 54, pleaded guilty to 10 counts this week at court in Dublin One of Ireland’s most renowned sports stars has pleaded guilty to pretending to have cancer to induce people to give him money – and it all centres on a photograph that fooled thousands.
DJ Carey, who is widely recognised as one of the greatest hurlers of all time, pleaded guilty to 10 counts at the Circuit Court in Dublin’s Criminal Courts of Justice on Wednesday.
Billionaire Denis O’Brien is among several people who gave the ex-Kilkenny sportsman money after he fraudulently claimed he needed to fund cancer treatment. Carey, 54, is one of the most acclaimed figures in GAA history, having won five All-Ireland titles and nine All-Star awards.
When he retired from inter-county hurling in 2006, he was hailed as an ‘idol’ for young players and a legend of the game.
Since his guilty plea, a photograph of the former star has resurfaced on social media, appearing to show him lying in a hospital bed.
The image, thought to have been sent to his victims, shows Carey with ‘tubes’ up his nose – which, on closer inspection, seems to be an iPhone cable taped to his face.
Carey was said to have induced his victims to make a monetary payment to him between 2014 and 2022 after fraudulently claiming to have cancer and saying he needed finances to obtain treatment.
A photograph of DJ Carey, as shown on the Crimeworld podcast, appearing to show the former hurling star with an iPhone cable up his noseBut his history of financial struggle has been well documented as Allied Irish Banks secured an initial debt repayment court order for about £7.3million in May 2011.
Carey settled his debt with AIB in 2018 in a settlement that reduced his debt of over €9.5 million to €60,000 – just 0.63 per cent of the amount originally owed.
In 2015, speaking on RTE’s Ray D’Arcy radio show, Carey said: ‘I am not one of those who would say ‘I don’t care’ about repaying debt.’
‘You borrow money, it should be paid back,’ he said, adding that ‘to whatever extent that can be, I would still be conscious it has to be done’.
Carey’s family members are also well-known in the world of Irish sport.
His sister, Catriona, was a member of the Ireland women’s field hockey team and the Kilkenny senior camogie team.
Meanwhile his brother Martin was also a member of the Kilkenny hurling panel as the substitute goalkeeper.
Carey had appeared in court in late 2023 charged with 21 counts under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act, at which point a four-week trial was expected to take place this year.
On Wednesday, he arrived at criminal courts of justice where he was due to stand trial on deception charges at the Dublin circuit criminal court.
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