'Stole €36k from brother for drug habit'

A YOUNG woman stole more than €36,000 from her disabled brother's bank account to feed her drug habit, a court has heard.

- BY STEPHEN MAGUIRE

Amy Harpur, 27, appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court in Co Donegal on a single charge of theft - that she did steal €36,027, the property of Andrew Harpur, at Ulster Bank on Main Street in Ballybofey, Donegal between June 7, 2021 and July 10, 2022.

The court was told Harpur used her mobile phone to make a total of 178 transactions stealing money from her brother's account. The victim, who has autism, did not realise the money had been stolen from his account.

Detective Garda John O'Sullivan told how gardai received a complaint from Florence McConaghey, the mother of the victim and the accused.

She said she realised that her son's bank account was gone very low and that a number of withdrawals had been made by her daughter Amy.