Former Kildare Co Councillor remanded in custody to be sentenced for forging almost 300 cheques

Above: Dalton being led out of Naas Circuit Court by a prison officer. Photo: RTE.

A 52-year-old former parliamentary assistant who forged the name of Kildare Fianna Fáil TD Seán Ó Fearghaíl on almost 300 cheques and stole €202,000 from a voluntary housing association has been remanded in custody awaiting sentence at the Circuit Court in Naas.

Former county councillor Mark Dalton was a director of the Cill Urnai voluntary housing association when he committed the offences over a five-year period from 2009 to 2014.

Judge Martina Baxter was yesterday told that Dalton had a chronic gambling addiction at the time.

Dalton was working as the manager of the housing association and responsible for engaging tradesmen for ongoing repairs and maintenance at small housing schemes in Kildangan and Kilberry when he committed the crimes.

The court was told that while he wrote on the stubs of the chequebook the details of amounts to be paid for repairs, insurance and grass cutting he cashed the cheques in his own name.

He pleaded guilty to the forgery and theft of €202,000 - none of which has been recovered.

The alarm was raised when the manager of the AIB in Athy became concerned about the cheques being cashed.

At the sentencing hearing today Judge Baxter was told Dalton was a married man with two grown-up children and employed as a parliamentary assistant for Mr Ó Fearghaíl when he lost his county council seat.

Deputy Ó Fearghaíl and Mark Dalton were the co-signatories on the cheque book for the Cill Urnai housing association and when concern was expressed by the bank Mr Ó Fearail confronted Dalton and later dismissed him from his job.

Character references from former European commissioner Charlie McCreevy and former TD Sean Power were handed into the court today.

Both men said Dalton was a competent community worker and they were shocked by what he had done but Judge Baxter remarked upon what she described as "a glaring omission (in reference to character evidence) from the man with whom he was a parliamentary assistant - bearing in mind the political party which the others are coming from."

In response Dalton’s counsel told the judge Mr Ó Fearghaíl was the chief witness for the prosecution of the case against his client.

Having heard the case, Judge Baxter said she would hand down her sentence at a sitting of the court in Dundalk on May 2nd and remanded Dalton in custody.