LAST UPDATE | 3 Nov

FORMER KILKENNY HURLER DJ Carey was today sentenced to five and a half years after faking cancer to con money out of people.

Carey, with an address of at Newtown, Maynooth, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty in July to ten counts of dishonestly inducing people to pay him money after he fraudulently claimed to have cancer and needed finances for treatment.

The 54-year-old was remanded in custody after a hearing on Friday which heard Carey fraudulently inducing people to give him nearly €400,000, of which over €44,000 was repaid.

Judge Martin Nolan today told the court that Carey had taken advantage of people’s good nature and good will towards him. 

He further described it as a “very serious” and “reprehensible” matter.

The judge noted Carey’s guilty plea and lack of previous convictions as among the mitigating factors.

There was no reaction from Carey after the sentence was handed down.

Carey’s sentence is made up of a four year sentence for count 2 of the charges he plead guilty to, and a sentence of 18 months for count 3, to be served consecutively. 

Judge Nolan noted that many of the victim’s of Carey’s fraud “must have looked in the mirror and said ‘How foolish am I?’. 

He noted however that they were not foolish, and that they had been motivated by wanting to help Carey. 

Nolan noted that Carey had co-operated with gardaí, and that he is “probably” not someone who will reoffend. 

He also said that Carey will likely have a “hard life” when he eventually leaves prison. 

Nolan went on to say that if he was asked for a “headline sentence” for Carey’s “global behaviour” he would say 8-10 years, but that the former hurler was entitled to a reduction due to the mitigating factors in the case. 

Judge Nolan had told the court on Friday that a custodial sentence was inevitable. 

Carey’s sentencing was due to take place on Wednesday, but was adjourned after the court was told that he was in hospital.

With additional reporting from Eimer McAuley