Nursing home resident 'practically bled dry' by carer who stole over €82k from his bank accounts

Seán McCárthaigh

An elderly resident of a nursing home was “practically bled dry” by a woman entrusted with his care who stole over €82,000 from his bank accounts, a court has heard.

Dawn Lambert (62) of St Manntan’s Park, Wicklow Town, Co Wicklow, was given a fully suspended prison sentence of three years after admitting to four counts of theft at a sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court.

Evidence was heard that Lambert, a single unemployed woman, had stolen a total of €82,804 from Patrick Maher (82) by using his bank cards to withdraw cash from an ATM in Bray, Co Wicklow on dates between September 24th, 2022, and June 20th, 2024.

Detective Garda Frank Gunter explained that the accused knew Mr Maher, who is now a resident of Knockrobin Hill Care Home in Wicklow Town, since 2009 when he was living in Rathnew, Co Wicklow.

He told the court that Lambert was not an official home-help but assisted the pensioner with various tasks such as bringing him to medical appointments and had become someone whom Mr Maher trusted.

Det Garda Gunter said the victim had given Lambert two bank cards in September 2022 to pay his bills after he suffered a fall at home and needed to be hospitalised and subsequently moved to a nursing home.

The court heard that gardaí were contacted about the case after a worker with an advocacy service for older people – Sage Advocacy – questioned why it appeared Mr Maher had no finances when he was applying for the Fair Deal nursing home scheme.

The official subsequently noted a large number of cash withdrawals recorded in Mr Maher’s bank statements which the pensioner said he knew nothing about.

Det Garda Gunter said the victim had been in a care home since September 2022 and did not even know the PIN codes for his bank cards.

The court heard that €75,550 was withdrawn with two banks cards in 495 different transactions, while the total amount taken from the accounts was €82,804.

Det Garda Gunter told prosecution counsel, James Kelly BL that he could not say how much of the money was used for the care of Mr Maher but he accepted that some of the cash was used for legitimate reasons.

When arrested, he said Lambert had admitted taking the money to service her gambling problem.

The court heard that most of the money was spent on slot machines.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Conor Rubaclava BL, Det Garda Gunter confirmed that €60,190 of the stolen money had been repaid by Lambert with the assistance of family members in return for giving up her right to any inheritance from her mother.

The court heard that the accused, who has no previous convictions, is a full-time carer for her elderly mother and part-time carer for her sister.

Det Garda Gunter said Lambert was apologetic and distraught as well as “very upset about everything” after her arrest.

Mr Rubaclava said his client was known in her community as a very caring person who had taken steps to address her addiction by attending Gamblers Anonymous.

He noted that the first thing Lambert said to him was about her “wanting to make things right.”

Mr Rubaclava said she was “genuinely remorseful and full of guilt and shame.”

He supplied the court with several character references including ones from gardaí and members of the clergy that referred to Lambert’s trustworthy and caring nature.

The barrister highlighted one reference which stated that her “whole life is lived for other people.”

Asking for the court to apply a non-custodial sentence, Mr Rubaclava said Lambert was due to receive a one-year ribbon for attending Gamblers Anonymous next week.

He said she also wanted to ask Mr Maher for forgiveness and to apologise to him in person.

In a victim impact statement, however, the pensioner stated: “I never want her to come into my house again.”

Mr Maher said he was very upset and annoyed as well as sad about such a breach of trust.

The pensioner said the theft of his money had caused him a lot of worry about not being able to pay his bills.

He also believed the related stress had caused him heart problems and he no longer trusted people.

Judge Patrick Quinn said gambling was the source of Lambert’s difficulties and downfall, although he accepted she was at a low risk of re-offending.

The judge observed that the amount of money stolen was substantial and taken over a protracted period.

However, he acknowledged that Lambert had repaid over €60,000, while some of the remaining money would have been accounted for by legitimate expenses and the offending was “out of character.”.

Sentencing the accused to three years in prison, Judge Quinn said he would suspend the entire term for a period of three years on condition that Lambert not come to Garda attention in the future and continues to attend Gambler Anonymous to address her addiction.