Solicitor Cahir O'Higgins sentenced to 27 months in jail

A criminal defence solicitor has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for stealing €400 from a client and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Cahir O'Higgins, of Cahir O'Higgins and Company, Kingsbridge House, Parkgate Street, Dublin, was emotional after sentencing, standing up in court to apologise to everyone impacted by this.

He said his siblings and children had been nothing but kind and supportive to him.

O'Higgins, who was one of the country's former top highest earning criminal legal aid solicitors, is currently serving a sentence for assaulting another solicitor.

Judge Martin Nolan backdated today's sentence to 21 October and said it will run concurrently with a sentence for assault that he is currently serving.

Judge Nolan said if the only charge had been the theft of €400, it would have been dealt with by the District Court, but the additional charges for perverting the court of justice brought it to the Circuit Court.

During the trial the court was told O'Higgins was standing in for a colleague to represent Raul Sanz Quilis, a Spanish national, who was before the District Court on 30 July 2016 on a charge of criminal damage.

The judge said that day the case would be struck out if a payment of €200 was made and O'Higgins then volunteered to use Mr Sanz Quilis' bank card to withdraw the money.

O'Higgins made three withdrawals totalling €600 from the ATM and put €400 into his pocket.

€200 was paid to the court and the case against Mr Sanz Quilis was then struck out.

A garda investigation commenced after Mr Sanz Quilis subsequently discovered the money missing from his account.

In December 2017, O'Higgins provided gardaí with a copy of notes he claimed to have made on 30 July 2016, but the prosecution said these contained untrue information, and were not made on that date.

O'Higgins told gardaí that he was asked by solicitor Tracy Horan to attend the District Court on 30 July 2016 "as a favour to her".

He said he spoke to Mr Sanz Quilis before court and gave him advice and Mr Sanz Quilis indicated that he wanted to plead guilty.

He also said Mr Sanz Quilis consented to the withdrawal of €600 from his account and there was "no doubt in my mind that I had his full permission to use his card".

He said he withdrew €600 because he "wanted enough cash to arm" himself in case that the judge may change the order and direct compensation or a donation to charity above €200.

He also said he gave the money back. He said he put €400 and the charge sheets in an envelope and handed it to Mr Sanz Quilis after the case was struck out. He insisted he did not keep the money.

The jury however found him guilty of all five charges, one of theft and four of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Defence senior counsel Michael O'Higgins acknowledged that the aggravating features of this case include that his client was an officer of the court and that he was representing someone who was far from home.

He asked the court to consider the contents of probation and psychological reports, his client's background and personal circumstances.

A large number of references were handed to the court including from Fr Peter McVerry, Tiglin, family members and neighbours.

Counsel asked the court to impose as compassionate and lenient a sentence on his client as possible.