Priest in ?145k Parish Fraud Apologises for His Actions

Irish News
May 11, 2013

http://www.irishnews.com/news/priest-in-145k-parish-fraud-apologises-for-his-actions-1255097


A CATHOLIC priest who admitted embezzling ?145,000 of parish funds to give to a woman apologised for his actions yesterday as he avoided going to prison.

However, as Fr Conleth Byrne - who was given a two-year suspended sentence - left Downpatrick Crown Court he still gave no explanation for stealing the money from his former Co Down parish.

Judge David Smyth said while Byrne maintained he took the money for charitable purposes "given the size of these I have approached this with some scepticism".

Byrne pleaded guilty last month to defrauding Loughinisland parish over a 19-month period between 2008 and 2009.

The court had heard that Byrne, who was parish priest at the time, gave the money to Marie Hanna who came to the village's parochial house claiming to be in "dire need" of financial help after being released from prison.

Byrne "naively" gave Ms Hanna around ?145,000 of parish funds, believing she was destitute.

He also gave her around ?45,000 of his own savings over a five-month period and from money he borrowed from friends and family.

It was the "beginning of a cycle" whereby Ms Hanna would come to him on a regular basis seeking help, with Byrne dipping into parish funds when his own savings were exhausted.

The judge yesterday said he found it "difficult" to accept that Byrne had acted in "complete naivety".

He said while it had been agreed that there were no favours to Byrne himself, "ruling out either monetary or sexual benefits", he questioned why the priest had given out so much money to one person.

He also raised the possibility that the benefactor to the funds may have had "some hold" upon Byrne but he said no evidence relating to this "speculative" suggestion had been given to the court.

"I have said it is unclear why. Any question of personal gain has been ruled out. That is clear," the judge said.

"You have denied being the subject of blackmail in any form. The entire sum of monies went to a single beneficiary.

"It may be you wanted to believe what your conscious mind told you was very unlikely.

"It may be that there also was some hold upon you by the person seeking your support. That, however, is entirely speculative and the court must and does approach sentence on the basis of the agreed statement of facts.

"These monies were never going to be repaid.

"You knew that what was happening was not authorised and were dishonest by the standards of right-thinking people, including your Church."

Judge Smyth told the elderly priest he had "betrayed the trust of your parish" and "misused a very substantial sum" of money to be used by the parish.

"Not only is the Church at a financial loss but it is this that set the seal on your dishonesty," he said.

"You knew that no-one would tolerate such payments, or even a fraction of such payments, to a single beneficiary even with your belief that they would substantially be repaid and that beneficiary was destitute."

However, the judge said he had taken into account the many good character references he had read about Byrne, including many from other priests.

"For some reason you sacrificed a life of service to the Church and lost the respect of your parish by doing what you did," he said.

"When I say lost the respect of your parish I temper that by saying that I have carefully read many character references from both members of the parish and persons who know you well.

"They come from all walks of life and one word they all have in common is 'compassion'.

"They all use that word in relation to their assessment of you and it is what leads the court to accept that this may have commenced as a misguided, but still dishonest, act of compassion."

In sentencing Byrne to two years suspended for three years, Judge Smyth said: "I am satisfied this will never be activated".

Byrne was also ordered to repay the outstanding ?100,000.

Byrne's barrister Sean Doran QC told the court that his client wanted to express his "sincere apologies" to his former parishioners and said that he recognised they would "feel extremely disappointed and let down by these admissions".

Following Byrne's sentencing, the diocese of Down and Connor said: "This situation has been a cause of great sadness for the people of Loughinisland, for the diocese of Down and Connor and for all the individuals affected by it.

"At this time, we keep in our prayers the parishioners of Loughinisland parish and all who have suffered in any way as a consequence of this regrettable situation."