Former Irish hurling star DJ Carey has been jailed after ‘exploiting the great nature of individuals’ to con almost £350,000.
The 54-year-old ex-Kilkenny player was given a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence today in Dublin following a cancer fraud.
He had previously pleaded guilty to 10 counts of inducing people to present him money after fraudulently claiming he had cancer.
The hurler, described as top-of-the-line in the sport, had allegedly sent a picture to victims showing him lying on a bed with an iPhone charging cable taped to his nose, pretending it was an oxygen tube.
Judge Martin Nolan said that Carey ‘exploited the great nature of individuals’ as a substitute of appealing to the weakness of humans, which is what fraudsters are inclined to do.
He said the individuals who fell for his fraud were ‘good-natured individuals who desired to help an individual in need.’
Carey was said to have tricked his victims into making a payment to him between 2014 and 2022 after saying he needed money to fund cancer treatment.
Among the many victims the All-Ireland winner conned is the Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien.
Mr O’Brien handed him over £109,500 (€125,000), together with helping him with accommodation and travel.
In total, Carey defrauded 22 people out of just about £350,000 (€400,000).
He has repaid around £38,500.
Judge Nolan said it was ‘very hard to know what motivated Mr Carey,’ but since pleading guilty he has been subjected to ‘public odium and mock’ and that his ‘good name will probably never recuperate.’
Carey stood motionless together with his hands clasped in front of him and wearing the identical clothes he had on when taken into custody on Friday because the judge told the court is more likely to face a troublesome life when is released from prison.
His defence said he had suffered a fall from grace and had turn into a pariah.
During his profession with Kilkenny, which spanned from the late Nineteen Eighties until his retirement in 2006, Carey went on to win five All-Ireland titles and nine All-Star Awards.
He was hailed as an idol for young players and a legend of the Gaelic game with 14th-century origins.
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