Education Authority fraudster escapes jail

Ordering Paul Traynor to complete 80 hours of community service along with two years on probation, Judge Gordon Kerr QC warned the 38-year-old that if he breached any aspect of the ECO or if he reoffended, “I will have no hesitation in substituting the order and sending you to prison”.

At an earlier hearing Traynor, from Mullanstown Park in Armagh, entered a guilty plea that over an eight-month period between April 12 and December 16 2017, he abused his position as a payroll officer in the EA to make “bank transfers to the total value of £18,087.81”.

Newry Crown Court heard that in a “sophisticated” fraud, Traynor developed a system where he could amend payslips to create payments “that otherwise were not due” and which he then had paid into his own bank account.

Defence counsel Patrick Taggart argued that “the key factor here is that full restitution has been made,” adding that by doing so Traynor had not just expressed remorse but had physically demonstrated his regret.

Accepting that the fraud amounted to a breach of trust, he revealed Traynor had voluntarily undergone treatment and counselling for his gambling addiction.

Sentencing Traynor, Judge Kerr told him that given his plea, remorse, restitution and background, “the proper sentence is 12 months custody”.

The judge added, however, that such a sentence allowed him to consider an enhanced combination order which he believed to be just in Traynor’s case.