Solicitor convicted of theft and deception has jail term increased

By Eimear Dodd

A top criminal defence solicitor will spend longer in prison after being convicted of the theft of €400 and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Cahir O’Higgins (49) was convicted earlier this month in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court of one count of theft and four counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

O’Higgins, of Cahir O’Higgins and Company, Kingsbridge House, Parkgate Street, Dublin, denied the theft of €400 on July 30, 2016 and that he attempted to pervert the course of justice in December 2017 by providing notes to gardai which he knew contained incorrect information.

He has four previous convictions including for harassment, assault causing harm and public order offences.

They all post-date this incident, and were committed while he was on bail for this offence.

He was handed a 16-month sentence last July for the harassment and assault charges, and his earliest current release date is September 2025.

Imposing sentence today, Judge Martin Nolan said the charges were “serious”, describing the counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice as more serious than the theft charge.

Having considered the mitigation, he said the court “must extend” O’Higgins’s time in prison and imposed a global sentence of 27 months, backdated to October 21 last.

“It’s a serious matter to try to attempt to pervert course of justice, particularly for solicitors,” the judge said, adding that theft from a client even a small one is “serious”.

O’Higgins spoke after Judge Nolan had finalised the sentence, saying he wished to apologise to everyone impacted by this.

He said his siblings and children had been “nothing but kind and supportive”.

Defence senior counsel Michael O’Higgins acknowledged the aggravating features of this case include that his client was an officer of the court and that he representing someone who was far from home.

Mr O’Higgins SC suggested to the court that the theft of €400 in other circumstances may have been dealt with by the District Court.

Counsel asked the court to view the notes as a “well-founded” reaction to the risk of a Law Society investigation.

“Even if it did come into being with the Law Society in mind, it was converted to another use, to keep the gardai’s energies directed in another direction”.

Counsel submitted that while his client had lied, he later withdrew this during the first interview and should be given credit for this. “Any attempt to pervert course of justice was reduced to zero,” counsel said.

He asked the court to consider the contents of probation and psychological reports, his client’s background and personal circumstances. A large number of references were handed to the court including from Fr Peter McVerry, Tiglin, family members and neighbours.

Counsel asked the court to impose as compassionate and lenient a sentence on his client as possible.

Detective Garda Colm Kelly outlined to Eoin Lawlor SC, prosecuting, that O’Higgins stood in to represent a Spanish man facing a criminal damage charge at a sitting of Dublin District Criminal Court on July 30, 2016.

Raul Sanz Quilis had limited English and was assisted by an interpreter during his garda interview and the brief court hearing.

As Mr Sanz Quilis wished to plead guilty, the district court judge indicated that if he paid €200 to the Court Poor Box, the case would be struck out.

He was in custody and gardai obtained his bank card and PIN, then gave to them to O’Higgins who’d volunteered to go to an ATM.

O’Higgins went to the Londis shop on Parkgate Street and made three withdrawals of €200 using Mr Sanz Quilis’s bank card.

In CCTV shown during the trial, O’Higgins withdrew €200, then placed it in a piece of paper.

He then made two further withdrawals, which he put in his trousers pocket, before making a further attempt to use the ATM.

When O’Higgins returned to court, €200 was paid and the case struck out.

O’Higgins told Mr Sanz Quilis after his release – having declined an interpreter suggested by gardai – that he’d taken money out for his fees.

The court heard O’Higgins had no entitlement to fees as legal aid had been assigned to another solicitor, who he was standing in for.

An offer was later made to return the €400 to Mr Sanz Quilis, who had returned to Spain. A complaint was later made to gardai, via the Spanish Embassy.

On December 8, 2017, Det Gda Kelly invited O’Higgins to attend a voluntary interview about the allegation of theft.

O’Higgins later emailed Det Gda Kelly to confirm he would attend. He also attached two photos of handwritten notes, which he claimed were a record of his interactions with Mr Sanz Quilis.

O’Higgins provided the originals, dated July 30, 2016, along with a third page to gardai when he was interviewed on December 17, 2018.

He told gardai that he spoke to Mr Sanz Quilis before the court hearing and obtained explicit consent to use his bank card and withdrew €600.

He said he was concerned the judge may order additional compensation.

O’Higgins denied stealing €400, insisting he returned the money in an envelope to Mr Sanz Quilis.

Later in the interview, O’Higgins admitted the notes were not contemporaneous, but had been written around October 2016 due to his concerns about a possible Law Society investigation.

He said he withdrew €600 so on the basis of “implied permission” given the circumstances, but had no explicit consent to do this.

He acknowledged there was no conversation with Mr Sanz Quilis about money, but insisted the €400 was returned either in the court or shortly afterwards.

O’Higgins was interviewed voluntarily for a second time in March 2018, and provided a prepared statement to gardai.

In this statement, he said couldn’t recall if he spoke to Mr Sanz Quilis before court, but believed he hadn’t.

He said he deemed it “appropriate and responsible” to plan in case additional compensation was directed by the judge.

He said he was alarmed as the investigating garda had indicated he wished to ask the judge to hear the evidence and consider the issue of compensation.

He described the €400 “as contingency”, for which he hadn’t sought consent but had “inferred” it in the circumstances.

He maintained that he returned the €400 to Mr Sanz Quilis and that he would not risk his practice for €400.

The trial heard O’Higgins recorded a conversation with Garda Tao Yu, the garda who arrested Mr Sanz Quilis, in 2020.

During this conversation, O’Higgins maintained to Gda Yu that he told him when they spoke on July 30, 2016 that he intended to withdraw additional money.

O’Higgins also asserted during this conversation that the solicitor who represented Mr Sanz Quilis at the garda station had obtained written consent to withdraw money.

Mr Sanz Quilis declined to provide a victim impact statement.