A former charity director who stole more than €1m from a voluntary organisation and from friends and family has received a partially suspended sentence.

Greg Walsh (70), of Woodbrook Crescent, Castleknock, Dublin, came to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on signed guilty pleas to 119 thefts totalling €998,476 from various parties, including Carline Learning Centre in Dublin, between 2008 and 2016.

He affirmed further signed guilty pleas to four thefts totalling €150,000 from Bank of Ireland, on dates in February and March 2015.

Judge Pauline Codd sentenced Walsh to four years’ imprisonment, but suspended the final two-and-a-half years of the sentence provided he keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of two and a half years upon release.

The Carline Learning Centre thefts – which exceeded €280,000 – came to light when a staff member noticed discrepancies in the accounts when signing off on them before retirement.

Detective Garda Padraig Jennings revealed Walsh had been director and treasurer of Carline Learning Centre, a Clondalkin-based charity that helped disadvantaged young people. The court heard he misappropriated funds to pay the charity’s tax bills by lodging the cheques into his own account before making direct debit payments on Revenue’s online system.

The father-of-four has no previous convictions.

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