Judge orders 'unwell' defendant to appear before court
Ms Hanrahan has been ordered to appear on March 20.
A Waterford Judge has ordered a woman who is charged with a number of theft offences to appear before Waterford Circuit Court.
In February 2025, Joan Hanrahan, of 21 Woodview Close, Maypark Village, pleaded guilty to 10 charges of theft contrary to Section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001 of making gain or causing loss by deception, and six charges of theft contrary to Section 4 of the same Act. The offences occurred between July 2021 and April 2024. It is understood that she accrued a sum totalling €150,000.
The 53-year-old was due to appear before Judge Eugene O'Kelly this week but took ill in Court. Her hearing was adjourned to Thursday, March 13, but she did not appear. A photocopy of a GP letter was sent to Waterford Courthouse that read Hanrahan "felt unwell at work and collapsed".
Judge O'Kelly asked defending counsel Gareth Hayden BL if the GP was "properly informed" that she did not fall ill at work but inside the court. He said: "It appears to suggest that your client was not truthful to her doctor saying that she felt 'unwell at work and collapsed'."
Mr Hayden told the court that he received a call from his client's sister in Cork claiming that Hanrahan had suffered a "mini-stroke".
Judge O'Kelly warned that if Hanrahan failed to appear on Thursday, March 20, then she can "expect the State to issue a bench warrant".
