Health trust worker from Feeny who stole dozens of laptops escapes immediate custody
“Thefts from such a public body will have an adverse impact on society’s most vulnerable members”
A County Derry man who admitted stealing dozens of laptops from the Northern Health and Social Care Trust has been handed a suspended prison sentence.
Imposing a 14-month sentence on Cormac McEleney, Judge Sandra Crawford told the 35-year-old she was suspending it for two years based on his guilty pleas, remorse and the “undue delay” in the PPS progressing the case.
Highlighting that his offending represented a “significant breach of trust,” the judge told McEleney his “sophisticated and premeditated” thefts had been committed against “a hard-pressed public body, responsible for regional health and social care for vulnerable adults and children.”
“Thefts from such a public body will have an adverse impact on society’s most vulnerable members,” she told Antrim Crown Court.
At an earlier hearing, McEleney, with an address at Willowcroft in Feeny, entered guilty pleas to seven counts of stealing Dell laptops and three charges of converting criminal property, all committed between June 4 2019 and January 22 2021.
Eight further charges of theft were not proceeded, with but the court was told the pleas “are accepted on a full facts basis.”
Recounting the facts of the case on Thursday, Judge Crawford told the court that when the Northern Health and Social Care Trust discovered that dozens of laptops were missing, that sparked an internal investigation.
That investigation encompassed a multiplicity of departments of the Trust’s estate, including Human Resources, senior management and third party suppliers.
The “shadow of suspicion” fell on the IT department, and the thefts also had a “negative impact” on customer/client relations.
The Trust supplied the police and Dell with the serial numbers of the stolen laptops, and it was when a person reported a fault with their machine, that the path led back to McEleney.
The third party was spoken to, and they confirmed that after they posted an ad online seeking to buy a laptop, McEleney contacted them and sold them one of the Trust’s stolen machines for £220.
When officers interviewed McEleney, he admitted what he had done, and gave contact details of the person “who had bought the large majority” of the laptops.
Overall, just over 60 laptops and laptop bags had been stolen, costing the Trust between £23,000 and £29,000.
Defence counsel Thomas McKeever told the court that having used savings and donations from relatives, McEleney had gather £13,500 together, adding that the prosecution had agreed that a further £10,000 would suffice for restitution.
Imposing the suspended sentence, Judge Crawford told McEleney he had three years to pay the further £10,000.