A former branch manager of ACC Bank in Kilrush, who stole nearly 450,000 euro from three former customers, has had half of his sentence suspended.
55-year-old Kevin Jarlath Mitchell, who has left Kilrush and has a last address at Drimnagh Road, Drimnagh, had pleaded guilty to taking the money over a 19-year-period and was jailed for four years in April of last year.
At the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday, his legal team argued that the trial judge did not take sufficient account of the efforts to make good the damage Mr Mitchell had caused, including his decision to effectively surrender his 600,000 euro pension to the bank who had paid back the money he'd taken.
Presiding judge Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell said this could not be considered perfect mitigation, but agreed that a suspension of the last two years of Mitchell's jail term would be appropriate.
