An addicted gambler who stole more than €78,000 from the insurance company he had worked for seven years has been ordered to carry out 240 hours of community service in lieu of three years in jail.
Peter Dillon (31), Ballinteer Road, Dundrum, a single father, took cash from customers from April 2006 to January 2007 for insurance premiums but he did not pass the money on to Cornmarket Group Financial Services.
He altered receipts claiming that the payments had been made by credit card, laser, postal order and credit transfer, but the company never received the funds.
He later sent an e-mail to Cornmarket, following an internal investigation, confessing that he had been involved in taking cash – amounting to €78,753 – from the company.