Irish woman secretly claimed dead mother's pension for 3 years, calls it a way 'to keep her alive'

An Irish woman fraudulently claimed her late mother's pension for three years, using the money for grave flowers.

A woman from Ireland who continued to collect her late mother’s pension for nearly three years said it was “a way of keeping her mother alive,” adding that she used the money to buy flowers for her grave, according to a report by Irish Mirror.

An Irish woman admitted to stealing her late mother's pension for three years, claiming it was to "keep her alive," (Representational image/Unsplash)

Death never registered

Catherine Byrne, 56, from McDonagh Park in Bettystown, Co Meath, never officially registered her mother’s death in 2019. Instead, she kept collecting both the widow’s pension and carer’s allowance until early 2022. The fraud came to light during a routine investigation, Dundalk Circuit Court was told.

Byrne admitted to taking the payments through Drogheda’s West Street Post Office, where she had continued to collect the benefits. She has no previous convictions.

“A way of keeping her mother alive”

When questioned, Byrne said what she did was “a way of keeping her mother alive,” and insisted she intended to pay back every cent. “I will pay every penny back,” she told investigators.

Judge Dara Hayes acknowledged her grief, saying: “She was grieving the loss and it hit her particularly hard, but she didn’t inform the Department of the death. The death was not registered, which is an unusual thing, and she continued to facilitate the ongoing fraud.”

The court also heard Byrne used the money for grave flowers and not for personal indulgence. “She was not living any form of a lavish lifestyle but spent the money putting flowers on her mother’s grave,” the judge noted.

Byrne has since begun repaying the money at €120 per week – a plan expected to take a little over a decade to complete. Judge Hayes stressed that while he recognised her remorse, “thefts from the public purse are serious offences.”

He handed down a two-year prison sentence, suspended for ten years on condition she maintains the repayments. She was also ordered to complete 240 hours of community service in lieu of time behind bars.