Suspended sentence for Donegal woman who claimed over €66,000 in state payments for three years after her father’s death

Shauna Tynan (57) of Slieve Sneacht, Letterkenny was given a 16 month suspended sentence at Letterkenny Circuit Court on Wednesday.

The charges relate to Tynan claiming her deceased father's pension and carers allowance for three years after his death in October 2013.

Tynan was charged with 246 counts of theft and pleaded guilty to ten sample charges on a full fact basis.

The court heard the Department of Social Welfare was left with a loss of over €66,000 due to the payments.

The court heard Tynan received €32,222 in carer's allowance and a further €34,265.60 in State pension following the death of her father.

The court heard the €34,265.60 obtained by fraudulently claiming a State pension has been repaid in full while Tynan is repaying each week in respect of the outstanding amount.

In sentencing, Judge John Aylmer said he had previously been persuaded to adjourn matters to allow for the repayment of the pension.

Judge Aylmer said he believed the case to be 'serious offending' but was at the lower end of the scale and a two year prison sentence was the starting point for sentencing.

Judge Aylmer said Tynan had continued to collect payments over a period of three years and he had been told this week that €34,265.60 had been repaid to cover the pension claims.

The judge said he had given extended time for the repayment and the sale of land on Arranmore Island.

In mitigation, Judge Aylmer said Tynan had not come to adverse attention and she had no previous convictions.

The court heard Tynan had trained as a veterinary nurse and from 2006 to 2013, she had looked after her father.

Judge Aylmer said Tynan was a person who dealt very badly with her father's death and referred to a physiological report which detailed this.

He said it appeared to be inactivity on her part and a failure to do 'what ought to be done' following her father's death.

Judge Aylmer said the defendant took no action to notify authorities of her father's death and inevitably, the matters came to light.

The judge said she buried her head in the sand, was remorseful and embarrassed and had to be given credit for the repayment of the pension amount and continuing to repay the Department for the carer's allowance.

Referring to a probation report, Judge Aylmer said Tynan was at low risk of reoffending and was not deemed in need of supervision from probation.

Giving credit for Tynan's guilty plea and cooperation with the investigation, Judge Aylmer reduced the sentence to 16 months.

Judge Aylmer suspended the entire 16 months sentence upon Tynan entering into a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of 16 months.