Belfast woman admits fraud over account meant for nursing home fees

Judge to sentence woman after establishing exactly how much money taken

A West Belfast woman today (Thursday) admitted defrauding a female of over £76,000.

Maria Smyth, 54, of Lagmore Meadows appeared at Belfast Crown Court for an arraignment hearing on a single charge she faced of fraud by abuse of position.

The charge stated that between April 1, 2017 and January 1, 2022, she defrauded a woman by abuse of her position and “dishonestly misappropriated money, namely £76,433, held in a Post Office account” belonging to the victim.

When the charge was put to her by the court clerk, Smyth, who was physically upset in the dock, replied: “Guilty”.

Defence barrister Michael Halleron told the court that the total figure compiled by investigating police was being “disputed”.

“That is the total amount that was taken from the account. The backdrop to this is that the defendant had custody of the account to pay fees to the nursing home which has not been taken from the total amount,” said Mr Halleron.

He confirmed to Judge Neil Rafferty KC that “some of the money had been legitimately used and paid to the nursing home” but he was not able to say how much the nursing home had received.

A prosecution barrister said she had emailed the investigating officer this week and was presently awaiting a response to the query raised by the defence. Mr Halleron added that depending on how much Smyth had paid the nursing home, the range may fall into a lower band for sentencing.

Judge Rafferty said he would hold the guilty plea to allow prosecution and defence counsels to discuss the total figure defrauded from the account. The judge said he would direct a pre-sentence report by the Probation Board.

Addressing the defendant, Judge Rafferty told Smyth: “The Probation Board are essentially social workers. They will conduct an interview or a couple of interviews with you and they will discuss what happened, what you did, why you did it along with your personal circumstances.

“It is in your interest that they have as much information about you as possible because the judge will take that into consideration when passing sentence.”

Smyth, who has a clear criminal record, was released on continuing bail. Judge Rafferty said the defendant was not required to attend a review hearing of the case next week.

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