Father Conleth Byrne avoided jail today for defrauding Loughinisland parish of £145,000. He received a two-year suspended sentence at Downpatrick Crown Court. Judge ruled £100,000 has to be paid back and states full motive may never be known but accepts Father Byrne was naive in lending to the woman in ‘dire need’. Father Byrne apologised to his parishioners through his barrister in court but refused to comment outside court.
The money was just resting in his account….
Fr Conleth Byrne gets suspended sentence for £145,000 fraud (BBC News NI)










