Xtra-vision manager gets 12 months for theft

A young store manager addicted to gambling was given a 12-month prison sentence by Judge John O'Hagan at Cavan Circuit Court for the theft of €46,000 from his employers. Matthew Clarke (29) with addresses at Fernhill, Bohermean, Navan and Hillside, Moretown, Navan, pleaded guilty to the theft of the money from Xtra-vision, Unit 15, Newcourt Shopping Centre, Cavan, between November 3 and 18, 2008. Ms Monica Lalor, instructed by Mr. Rory Hayden, state solicitor, represented the DPP and Ms Marie O'Reilly, instructed by solicitor Mr. Liam Keane represented the defendant. Sergeant James Fraher stated that on November 19, 2008, the auditor of the company known as Xtra-vision noticed a discrepancy in the lodgement received at head office. She claimed that a sum in excess of €46,000 was not accounted for. This money would be collected on a Tuesday by a security firm and taken from the outlet to head office and reconciled with the sales at that premises. On November 26, 2008, the suspect Matthew Clarke was arrested and taken to Cavan Garda Station. He was interviewed and made admissions about his guilt in relation to the matter. Sergeant Fraher said that Matthew Clarke was manager in charge of the store in Cavan and was responsible for making sure that money forwarded to head office was right. In the course of interviews the defendant admitted that he took money to help with his gambling debts. "He was trying to follow his money - he had bets running and then took the money to try and feed that. He put close to €5,000 on one particular football match," stated witness. According to Sergeant Fraher, at the initial interviews the defendant tried to lay blame on people working under him but subsequently admitted his guilt. None of the money was recovered to date. Sergeant Fraher informed Judge O'Hagan that Matthew Clarke was English born and when he came to Ireland resided with his father and other members of his family in Navan. He had since moved house. Replying to Ms O'Reilly, witness agreed that Matthew Clarke pleaded guilty at the first court in 2009. He accepted that the trial would have been intricate if the defendant had contested the case. He was aware that the DPP had applied to have the case tried in the district court. Ms O'Reilly said the defendant attended Gamblers Anonymous in the UK but didn't attend in Ireland and fell into his old ways. He was now attending GA and was fully committed to it, she said. Judge O'Hagan pointed out that the defendant hadn't made any attempt to pay compensation. Ms O'Reilly replied that her client wasn't in a position at the present time to offer money to the court. She asked the court to take into account his early admissions and plea of guilty. In evidence Matthew Clarke said he had a serious gambling problem and incurred substantial personal debt. He took out loans before he felt compelled to steal and owed in the region of €25,000 over and above the €46,000 that was at issue in the hearing. With the help of MABS he paid sums to different companies each week and if he could pay Xtra-vision a certain amount a week for the next 20 years he would do it. In his summation Judge O'Hagan said the defendant's employers in Xtra-vision gave him the job in September. They trusted him but by October he had fiddled them out of a considerable amount of money. Ms O'Reilly said that all of the above matters had been impressed on the defendant. Further in the hearing a woman gave evidence that she was part of a prayer group and knew the defendant since October last year. She took him to meetings in Dublin and on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, where he entered fully into the spirit of the pilgrimage. Gerard McGowan said he was Matthew Clarke's stepfather. Matthew's mother and he had five children. Witness joined the family when Matthew was five and left when Matthew was seven. He returned when Matthew was 13 and since then Matthew had become his son. They were aware that Matthew had a gambling problem but didn't know of the trouble regarding Xtra-vision until Sergeant Fraher called to them. Witness said Matthew's mother and he moved away when Matthew was young. Matthew was left with his father in Birmingham. His father had another wife, another life and Matthew and his sister were left floating in the middle, said witness. They later brought Matthew's sister, Jemma, to live with them as her relationship with her father was not good. They left Matthew there because they thought he had a better relationship with his father. He was in education and then went to work in a pub, next door to a bookie, and it was from there he developed his gambling addiction. Mr. McGowan said they were unaware of how bad Matthew's gambling had become. His father should have alerted them so they could have given him the support he needed. Judge O'Hagan concluded that the defendant had breached the trust of his employers. He had put himself forward for the position of manager of the Xtra-vision store knowing that he had a gambling addiction, and knowing he could use his skills as a manager and as the holder of a third level business qualification to siphon off money for himself. Judge O'Hagan accepted that the defendant pleaded guilty and was now engaging with GA, but he couldn't allow someone who embezzled money to walk out the door; €46,000 was a huge amount and the Oireachtas considered it so serious that they decided that a maximum of 10 years could be imposed. If the defendant had been convicted by a jury he would have faced a sentence of three years. He imposed a 12-month prison sentence, the maximum the defendant would have received in the district court.