Father of four defruaded AIG of almost €13k
car fraud
A FATHER of four who lied to an insurance company and defrauded it of almost €13,000 was sentenced when he appeared before the last sitting of Carlow Circuit Court.
John Gaule, 11 Inis Gardens, Leighlinbridge had pleaded guilty to a charge of deception in Carlow Circuit Court in November, with the case to be finalised during the March sessions. The charge is related to Mr Gaule defrauding €12,815 from his insurance company, AIG, between 1-18 April 2018.
Judge Eugene O’Kelly recalled that 48-year-old Mr Gaule had lied to the insurance company about the amount of finance he had owed on his car loan, knowing that he really owed over €17,000 but telling them it was far less so that he could keep the balance. Judge O’Kelly noted that it took six court appearances by the defendant before he pleaded guilty to the charge and that he had tried to blame both his partner and his solicitor before admitting to it himself. He also said that Mr Gaule had previous history in the court, having been involved in a hit-and-run car accident and, in an unrelated case, an assault charge.
Tara Geoghegan BL told Judge O’Kelly that her client had the money to repay AIG and that he was “incredibly remorseful” for what he’d done. She continued that he was a “fantastic” father to his four children and that his family depended on him because his wife didn’t work. Ms Geoghegan continued that Mr Gaule had ongoing health issues and that he had suffered a downturn in his health and his business, which led to the fraudulent activity. She also said that he now takes full responsibility for his actions and that his health concerns caused him great stress.
Judge O’Kelly said that the appropriate sentence for Mr Gaule would be three years, but after taking mitigating circumstances such as his health conditions, financial pressure and guilty plea into consideration, he reduced it to two years and three months. He then suspended it in its entirety on condition that he is under the supervision of the Probation Service for that time, that he keeps the peace and repays the money to the insurance company.
