Sentencing hearing for DJ Carey on fraud charges

Updated / Wednesday, 29 Oct 2025 06:09

Legal Affairs Correspondent

A sentencing hearing will take place for former Kilkenny hurler DJ Carey who has admitted defrauding 13 people by pretending he had cancer and seeking money for treatment.

Carey with an address at Newtown, Maynooth in Co Kildare, pleaded guilty last July before he was due to stand trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

He admitted ten counts of dishonestly inducing people to pay him money after he falsely claimed to have cancer.

The offences occurred between 2014 and 2022 and involve 13 named people, including businessman Denis O’Brien.

Twenty-eight people were due to give evidence for the prosecution at the trial, which was expected to take four weeks.

Lawyers for Carey told the court in July that while he did not have cancer, he did have “genuinely significant” health issues and required heart surgery last year.

Defence counsel Colman Cody also asked for a psychological report to be prepared in advance of today’s sentencing.

The hearing is expected to take around 90 minutes, and the judge may impose a sentence immediately or adjourn to another date to consider the matter.

Carey has been on bail in advance of the hearing.

He is regarded as one of the greatest hurlers to have played the game and won five All-Ireland senior medals with Kilkenny.