A man has been found not guilty of theft, but guilty of deceiving a 95-year-old Kenmare man into withdrawing large sums of money from his bank.
Patrick Hurley of Carhugarrife, Leap, Co Cork faced two charges of theft and two further counts of deceiving Eugene O'Sullivan of Parnell Place, Kenmare.
The trial, which began on Monday, took place in Tralee Circuit Court sitting in Limerick.
On the 14th December, 2016, at Kenmare, Patrick Hurley dishonestly and with the intention of making a gain for himself or another by deception, falsely stating that the money deposited in the bank was not secure, did induce Eugene O'Sullivan to withdraw €20,000 in cash from his bank account.
On the 15th March, 2017, Mr Hurley committed a similar offence, this time inducing Ireland's oldest drover to withdraw €50,000.
The jury of seven women and five men took two hours and 45 minutes to return a majority guilty verdict on these two counts.
Mr Hurley denied two theft charges relating to the monies on the same dates; the jury unanimously found him not guilty.
As reported by the Kerryman newspaper, Eugene O'Sullivan had sought to withdraw large sums of cash from the bank, but was refused twice, before the bank allowed the withdrawals. https://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/news/bank-staff-feared-for-elderly-drover-court-hears-39815394.html
73-year-old Mr Hurley, who had denied all charges, was represented by barrister Brian McInereny, instructed by Eimear Griffin of Padraig O'Connell Solicitors.
He'll be sentenced next Friday, December 11th, for the deception offences.
