'Carer' imprisoned after stealing nearly €150,000 from elderly woman
Hanrahan was sentenced at Waterford Courthouse.
A nurse will spend over four years in prison for stealing nearly €150,000 from an elderly, vulnerable woman.
Joan Hanrahan (43) of Woodview Close, Maypark Village, Waterford pleaded guilty to five counts of theft contrary to Section 6 of the Theft and Fraud Offences Act and ten counts contrary to Section 4 of the same act.
Between 2021 until 2024, Hanrahan took money from her victim through ATM withdrawals and banking slips. She brought the victim into a PTSB branch, prepared a cash withdrawal slip and made the victim sign the check.
The elderly woman had been suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia in her later years.
The deception was uncovered after the victim died in April 2024 and her family discovered multiple sums of thousands of euro taken out of her account under the tag "nursing home". The family alerted the Gardaí.
Detective Garda Stephen Burke investigated the matter and requested data requests to AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB and recovered CCTV footage from various ATMs across Waterford. CCTV footage showed Hanrahan withdrawing large sums of money using the victims' card. Harahan was seen withdrawing money on the day of the woman's funeral.
Hanrahan was arrested at her home and told Gardaí "I destroyed [the] card. Sorry I spent all the money."
In 2021, Hanrahan received a suspended sentence from Tipperary Circuit Court over similar charges. She stole nearly €30,000 from three elderly patients at the care home she worked at. She would take a patient into town and have them withdraw money.
At the Tipperary Court, she told the Judge that she would pay restitution to the victims through her pension fund. Instead, she had actually stolen the €30,000 from her victim in Waterford. Judge Eugene O'Kelly later said during proceedings: "She was literally robbing Peter to pay Paul".
In 2020, Hanrahan was hired as a carer by a family in Waterford to care for their mother. Hanrahan worked between 10am - 2pm to care for the woman, bringing her to Mass and day trips out to Tramore and Dunmore East. The family were not aware of Hanrahan's criminal convictions and had been provided solid references.
At Waterford Circuit Court, the victim's son provided the victim impact statement through video link. He spoke of the hurt, shock and trauma felt by his entire family due to Hanrahan's deceit. He described his mother and how Hanrahan preyed on her vulnerability for her own gain. The Court heard how Hanrahan ingratiated herself in their family and became a trusted figure in their lives, even befriending their children.
The son explained the family's wish to never see their mother in a nursing home, and the hurt in seeing that Hanrahan wrote 'nursing home' on the cheques for the stolen money.
He also criticised PTSB for failing their 'duty of care' by not flagging the incidents when Hanrahan brought his mother into their banks and had her sign off on withdrawal slips. He said: "She manipulated GPs, priests, her elderly victim; no one was untouched by her manipulation.
"Joan Hanrahan infiltrated our family."
At his mother's wake, Hanrahan put a personal item into the coffin. He said: "She sympathised with us, she wept with us. She is a cold and callous predator."
Defence counsel Gareth Hayden BL told the Court that his client had received a diagnosis of kleptomania and was deeply apologetic for her actions. He said: "She told the Guards that knew it was wrong but couldn't stop." Mr Hayden referred to a traumatic incident in her early childhood, and that she witnessed an older family member commit theft. He spoke about the impact her negative offending has had on her children.
Judge O'Kelly sentenced Hanrahan to four years and six months on one charge, and two years and three months for the rest. Both sentences to run concurrently.
