Cat and louse

Judge slams shamed legend's reprehensible' behaviour as he sends him down | 'Victims lost their money.. and also lost a certain amount of belief in humanity', packed court hears | Carey has repaid just a fraction of the amount he scammed ..& even pretended he was due 'HSE compo

- BY GRAINNE NI AODHA

FORMER hurling star DJ Carey has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison after a "reprehensible" act of defrauding people by falsely claiming to have cancer.

The ex-Kilkenny hurler, 54, pleaded guilty in July to 10 counts of inducing family, friends and fans to give him almost €400,000 after stating he needed cancer treatment in the US.

A further eight counts were taken into consideration for sentencing at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin yesterday.

Describing Carey as a "formidable sportsman in both hurling and handball" and "one of the best known hurlers ever", the judge said those who gave him money were "good-natured people who wanted to help a person in need".

Judge Martin Nolan said fraudsters tend to appeal to the weakness of humans, which is usually greed.

He added: "This is not the case here, Mr Carey exploited the good nature of people." Judge Nolan said he had exploited people with the goodwill he had accumulated as an "outstanding sporting personality".

He added as well as losing money, people had lost "a certain amount of belief in humanity".