Disgraced GAA star DJ Carey ‘groomed’ victim’s husband for €4k after learning of Cancer diagnosis & Faking same Disease.‘ MANIPULATIVE AND CUNNING’ It’s very hard to know what motivated Mr Carey but what he did was grossly wrong. He took advantage of people he knew.” Judge Martin Nolan Said. Irish Sun Today.

I told my story in the media and only then did people start to believe me and the only reason I did it was so people would stop giving him money’

ONE of DJ Carey’s victims has said her husband was groomed by the former hurling star so that he would give him money – and that he pretended to have the same cancer diagnosis.

The 54-year-old deceived up to 13 people into giving him money, which he said he needed for cancer treatment in the States — but he never suffered from the disease.

In total he borrowed nearly €400,000, including over €125,000 he was loaned by billionaire businessman Denis O’Brien, but only repaid just over €44,000.

He was jailed earlier today for five-and-a-half years.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard the Kilkenny man borrowed €4,000 from Margaret and Ger Kirwan, although Mrs Kirwan said today it was €5,000.

The couple received all of the money back but Mrs Kirwan said she previously told her story because she wanted people to stop lending.

Carey was given the cash by the couple after he told them he was suffering from the same type of cancer as Ms Kirwan.

The court was told Ms Kirwan had to give a statement to gardai in the middle of her own cancer treatment.

The €4,000 was eventually paid back.

She told RTE’s Liveline: “I was diagnosed with cancer and a very short time after that DJ Carey approached my husband to sympathise and asked if he could help.

The week before I went in to hospital to have a bone marrow transplant. I was meeting and talking to people who didn’t believe my story, who didn’t believe that DJ Carey was not honest.

“I told my story in the media and only then did people start to believe me and the only reason I did it was so people would stop giving him money.

“I haven’t give him anymore of my headspace in the last four years – I don’t wish any badness on DJ Carey but I have no feelings on it.

“The only relevance for me was to tell me story so that people would stop giving him money left, right and centre.”

Jailing Carey earlier for “reprehensible fraud”, Judge Martin Nolan said the reputation of the former hurling star has been “destroyed”.

Judge Nolan added: “I couldn’t imagine a more reprehensible fraud, to tell people you have cancer when you don’t.

“He was a formidable sportsperson, in hurling and in handball. Probably one of the best hurlers ever, known all across the hurling world.

“His reputation is now destroyed and his good name will probably never recover.

“For what he did he has faced public odium and ­ridicule.

During the sentence hearing on Friday, the court heard that Carey obtained various amounts between €900 and €125,000 from the injured parties.

Many of his victims gave him around €10,000 or €25,000 with the fraudster vowing to repay the sums.

The court was told that Carey showed four of the injured parties scars on his head, which he claimed were from treatment for cancer at the Fred Hutch Cancer in Seattle.

When contacted by gardai, the centre told them Carey had never been a patient there.

Carey also posted a picture on social media with a iPhone charger up his nose to fake receiving cancer treatment.

In relation to billionaire Denis O’Brien, he produced two forged letters from the centre to “maintain the fraud”.