Monaghan man charged with stealing from local GAA club
A Co Monaghan man has gone on trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court charged with stealing €7,200 from his local GAA club in an alleged lotto scam more than four years ago.
Michael Kirk (aged 49) of Tullyallen, Carrickmacross, pleaded not guilty to two charges of theft from Magheracloone GFC, two charges of falsely representing that Thomas McGuinness and P.Kelly had genuinely won the club’s lotto, one charge in relation to altering a cheque that had been in favour of Mr McGuinness and a charge of using an altered cheque with the intention of making a gain for himself on dates between March 30, 2005 and July 31, 2005.
Mr Dominic McGinn BL, prosecuting, told the jury that it would hear evidence that Magheracloone GFC held a weekly lotto draw where participants would choose four numbers after buying a ticket for €2 with the chance of winning or sharing in the jackpot.
He said the person’s name, address and phone number were also printed on the ticket to allow the club to contact them in the event of their numbers being pulled out during the draw,
Mr McGinn said Mr Kirk was responsible for selling the tickets and checking to see who had won.
He told the jury it was the State’s case that the tickets had never been sold to anyone and that Mr Kirk had written the winning numbers onto the tickets as soon as they had been pulled out in the draw so he could later claim the jackpot.
He told the jury that it would hear that in March 2005 the jackpot was for €2,600 and a man named Thomas McGuinness had chosen the winning numbers. The ticket had been checked by Mr Kirk and had also been sold by him.
A club cheque was later written for Mr McGuinness and given to Mr Kirk to pass it on to him.
Mr McGinn told the jury it would hear that this cheque was later cashed in a butchers in Carrickmacross by the owner who was a friend of Mr Kirk. The back of the cheque had been apparently signed and endorsed by a Mr Thomas McGuinness.
Mr McGinn said the following July a ticket that had also been sold by Mr Kirk to a man named P Kelly bore the winning numbers for that week’s €4,600 jackpot.
The cheque was issued in the name of Mr P Kelly and given to Mr Kirk so it could be passed onto him.
Mr McGinn said the jury will hear that Mr Kirk then gave the cheque to his sister-in-law for a car that he had previously bought from her.
There was no specific address given for Mr Kelly and subsequent attempts to locate him led to a man named Patrick Kelly who used to work with the accused. This man claimed that Mr Kirk had called him in autumn 2005 out of the blue.
Mr McGinn said that Mr Kelly would testify that during this phone call, Mr Kirk asked him to cover for him.
Counsel told the jury that the accused was arrested and interviewed in February 2007 when he stated that Mr McGuinness had helped him change the tyre of his tractor on the side of the road and he had given him the lotto tickets as a favour.
He said when the man won the lotto he asked him to cash the cheque on his behalf and he, Mr Kirk, later passed the money onto him.
Mr Kirk told the gardaí that Mr Kelly had a bought plough off him and he had later let the accused keep his jackpot winnings as payment for the machine.
The trial continues before Judge Desmond Hogan and a jury of five women and seven men.
