Payroll manager gets suspended sentence for stealing €25k from two companies

By Eimear Dodd and Sonya McLean

A payroll manager who “succumbed to temptation” and stole over €25,000 from two companies has been given a two-year suspended sentence.

Eimear Barron (53) of Ridgewood Close, Swords, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 12 counts of stealing various sums of money totalling €25,793 on dates from February 2019 to November 2021.

The counts she pleaded guilty to are representative of a total of 41 unauthorised transactions carried out by Barron.

A detective told the court that Barron worked for a company contracted to control the payroll of two different companies. They both contacted gardaí in March 2022 when they noticed suspicious activity with the payroll.

The companies had noted a series of unauthorised transactions in the accounts during the time of Barron’s control of the system.

The court heard that there were 41 transactions in total and the funds had been transferred to both her bank account and a Revolut account in her name. Barron had updated employee’s records with her own account numbers and the payments had been made in batches.

Barron was arrested in May 2023 and made full admissions in subsequent garda interviews.

She told gardaí she spent the money on living expenses and paying bills. She had no previous convictions and had never come to garda attention before.

The detective agreed with Philipp Rahn SC defending that Barron was desperate but counsel acknowledged that was no excuse for her offending.

He accepted that she was the breadwinner in the family and while her husband worked as a taxi-driver intermittently, she had responsibility for the mortgage.

The detective acknowledged that it was “not a particularly sophisticated operation” and that Barron had built up a career for herself in payroll.

He further accepted that publicity surrounding the case would make it difficult for her to get further employment.

Several references were handed to the court. Mr Rahn said Barron’s family home had been sold and the full amount of €25,793 was now available to repay the injured parties.

He said her offending was “not sophisticated” and that Barron, who has no trappings of wealth, was experiencing financial difficulties at the time.

Counsel said his client had been the main breadwinner for her family, but lost her job and is not currently working. He said she had also lost her career due to her own actions, and has already paid a “significant price” for her criminality.

A GP report was also handed to the court, which Mr Rahn said, notes that his client has experienced mental health difficulties.

He asked the court to consider her early guilty plea, full admissions and her personal circumstances.

Imposing sentence, Judge Orla Crowe noted that a payroll manager holds a “particular position of trust” within any business, and Barron’s actions were a “significant breach of trust”.

She said Barron was the “main breadwinner” who was facing financial difficulties when she “succumbed” to temptation and stole from her employer. But, the judge said financial difficulties “don’t excuse in any way” Barron’s offending.

The judge said the aggravating factors include the amount of money and that the offending took place over a two-year period.

Judge Crowe imposed a two-year prison sentence, which she suspended in full on strict conditions for three years. The judge also directed that the €25,793 is paid to the two injured parties.