A former Galway GAA star who had confessed stealing an amount of €300,000 from his employer in order to fuel his problem gambling behaviour has avoided going to jail for the second time, in spite of the fact the efforts of prosecutors to see him imprisoned.
The 27-year-old Mark Hehir had admitted his wrongdoings and had pleaded guilty after making a confession that he had stole the afore-mentioned amount from his previous employers Galway City Bin over a period of six months in 2016. He revealed that the stealing resulted from a gambling addiction of his which he developed in secondary school when he became hooked on online gambling through his mobile phone.
Back in January 2018, Judge Rory McCabe at the Galway Circuit Criminal Court gave him a fully-suspended 2-year sentence. He was also required to handle a total of 240 hours of community service. In addition, Hehir was ordered to stay away from gambling, attend counselling and pay a weekly restitution of €100.
As mentioned above, the prosecutor’s office called for the Court to review the sentence of the gambling addict, describing it as an extremely small compared to his wrongdoings. However, the decision of the Circuit Court judge was eventually upheld by the Court of Appeal, with Mr. Hehir being spared jail and his status remains the same.
Hehir Makes Full Confessions to Court
Mark Hehir is known for being a captain of the Galway’s Under-21 All Ireland winning football team back in 2011.
As the court heard, Hehir had been given the full control of the City Bin Company’s accounts at the time he had worked there. In the six-month period from April 20th, 2016 and September 22nd, 2016, the former Galway GAA star made 71 money transfers from the company’s account to his personal account, with the amount being estimated at a total of €305,072.
Mr. Hehir was contacted by the local bank manager in regards to the transactions, with him eventually going to the bank and admitting the wrongdoings. The employer also contacted his father to inform him about the offences. As mentioned above, Hehir made full admissions to court and explained that he stole the money to fund his gambling addiction. In addition, a €29,000 payment was made to his ex employer by way of restitution, with the total amount owed to the company being €259,072 at the time when his sentence was announced.
Mr. Hehir got treatment for his gambling addiction in Hope House, Co Mayo after admitting he was a problem gambler. At the time of the sentence, he lived with his parents and was employed with an international medical devices company in Galway. As explained above, he is still repaying €100 every week to his previous employer.
For some time now, an increasing number of professional athletes have been involved in reckless gambling, with gambling addictions also spreading among players of the Gaelic Athletic Association. As previously reported by Casino Guardian, the gambling industry in Ireland has marked a massive growth, becoming one of the biggest sectors in the local economy. Unfortunately, the increasing interest towards gambling has increased not only gambling participation rates but also the number of gambling addicts, with a large number of professional GAA athletes also suffering from gambling-related harm due to problem gambling behaviour.
- Author
Daniel Williams
