Woman who stole €15,000 believed masked men would hurt her brother in Portlaoise Prison

A woman who stole nearly €15,000 in cash from her employers told gardai that two masked men told her they would hurt her brother if she didn't carry out the theft, a court has heard.

On the morning of February 10, 2024, Carla Keegan (28) took the cash from the safe of the Paddy Power bookmakers in Clondalkin in west Dublin and put it in a plastic shopping bag. She walked out of the shop and left the cash at an undisclosed drop off point before going back to work in the shop.

Later that day Keegan contacted the shop's security manager and told him what she had done. She told him that two masked men had approached her on two occasions and told her that her home was under surveillance.

She said she believed the men and felt that her family were in danger. She said one of the men handed her a note making reference to her brother who was in custody in Portlaoise Prison and saying “they” would be able to get to him easily.
She attended by appointment to gardaí and gave a version of her movements after leaving the shop which was borne out by CCTV footage.

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The location of the bag drop was not caught on camera but the court heard that one note had instructed her to drop the bag behind the wall at the entrance to a nearby park and to then “walk slowly” back to work.

The note also stated that “your home will not be interrupted as long as you do what is instructed”.
Keegan of Deansrath Avenue, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 pleaded guilty to theft of €14,800.

The court heard that when questioned Keegan told gardai that she was first approached in her home by a man wearing a black medical mask who knew her name. She said he handed her a note with instructions about co-operating with a robbery on February 6th.

She told gardai she thought it was some sort of a joke. A  robbery never took place on that day.
Four days later another man wearing a mask approached her as she was walking home and this man made threats about getting to her brother.

She said she was shocked and believed this was a realistic threat to harm her brother. She showed gardai screenshots of instructions she received from the two men.

Judge Martin Nolan said Keegan’s claim that her family were threatened had “some degree of credibility”.

He accepted that she had no record of conviction, has an otherwise pro-social background and made admissions. He said he didn’t expect Keegan to re-offend in the future.

“Some parties spotted an opportunity,” Judge Nolan said before he added that Keegan was “coerced”.

“She did not have the back bone or fortitude not to get involved; she acquiesced,” Judge Nolan said.  Judge Nolan imposed a three year sentence which he suspended in full.

“You expect adults to have backbone and courage,” the judge said.