A former employee of Virgin Media Television has been jailed for two years for stealing over €870,000 from her employer.
Kellie Walton, of Kilfenora Road, Dublin 12, stole the money over a ten-year period, beginning in 2009.
Kellie Walton used to work as a payroll administrator at Virgin Media Television, or TV3 as it was known previously.
Last year, she was charged with stealing over €64,000 in cash from her employer in 2018. She was also charged with stealing over €70,000 the following year.
Twenty additional charges were later brought against her, bringing the total she was alleged to have stolen to €870,500 on dates between 2009 and 2019.
Walton eventually admitted the charges, claiming she started stealing from the company because her husband was out of work, but the judge noted she continued to steal after that was resolved.
Her barrister pointed out that she hadn’t used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle.
She said it “got out of control” and he described how she lived in constant fear of getting caught.
Reporting by Frank Greaney
