Man who stole over €90,000 from a primary school while he was chairperson of board of management given suspended sentence

By Sonya McLean

A man who stole over €90,000 from a primary school while he was chairperson of the board of management has been given a suspended sentence.

Roy Hicks (73) of Hampton Green, Ballbriggan, who is currently living in a care home, came forward to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on signed pleas of guilty from the District Court.

He pleaded guilty to 22 counts of theft from St George’s National School, in Balbriggan, on dates between on June 17, 2019 and November 12, 2021.

The court heard that Hicks, who runs an accountancy firm in Wales, where he is originally from, spent the money he stole “to keep that business afloat”. He stole a total of €91,149.25.

Judge Orla Crowe said the offence represented “a significant breach of trust”.

She acknowledged that he has suffered significant health difficulties since.

She accepted that he was not in a position to compensate the school, which she said has lost a lot of money.

She further accepted that Hicks is unlikely to come before the courts again.

Judge Crowe said the offence warranted a headline sentence of four years before she imposed a sentence of two years and five months which she suspended in full on strict conditions.

Pieter Le Vert BL, prosecuting, said Hicks got the principal of the school to sign cheques for him which he then made payable to himself and lodged into his own account.

There were 22 cheques in total.

Hicks made full admissions when he was arrested in September 2023.

He suffered a stroke shortly afterwards and has had significant medical difficulties since.

He has no previous convictions and there was no victim impact statement in the case.

Marc Thompson SC, defending, said that his client was genuinely remorseful and regrets his involvement.

He said he would pay the money back if he could.

Mr Thompson said his client did an awful lot of good work for the school previously and had been asked to assist on the board because of his experience as a book-keeper.

He said the money was not used to fund a lavish lifestyle but rather to keep his business in Wales afloat