DJ Carey sentenced to five and a half years in prison for ‘reprehensible’ cancer fraud

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 euros 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 on Monday.

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 that fraudsters tend to appeal to the weakness of humans, which is usually greed.

“This is not the case here, Mr Carey exploited the good nature of people,” the judge said.

He said he had exploited people with the goodwill he had accumulated as an “outstanding sporting personality”.

He said that as well as losing money, people had lost “a certain amount of belief in humanity”.

“It’s a very serious matter, it is reprehensible behaviour and it’s bad behaviour.”

He said that it was “very hard to know what motivated Mr Carey” but since entering his guilty pleas he had been subjected to “public odium and ridicule” and that his “good name will probably never recover”.

He said that when he is released he is likely to face a tough life.

He said among the aspects taken into consideration in mitigation was that he has no previous record of convictions, he has a history of work and of contributing to society.

“Do I think he will offend in the future? Probably not,” he said before adding that no court could be certain.

Carey stood expressionless in the courtroom with his hands clasped in front of him, wearing the same clothes as he was on Friday when he was taken into custody.

Carey was one of the most acclaimed figures in GAA history, having won five All-Ireland titles and nine All-Star awards.

When he retired from inter-county hurling in 2006, he was hailed as an “idol” for young players and a legend of the game.

Billionaire Denis O’Brien is among the people the former sportsman induced to pay him money for fake cancer treatment.

Mr O’Brien gave him 125,000 euros and 13,000 dollars, none of which has been repaid, and also provided the use of a house and a car for a period of time.

Carey also received 120,000 euros from Tom Brennan, a consultant involved in the development of oncology drugs.

Another victim, Thomas Butler, gave Carey more than 16,000 euros and described the deception as “gut-wrenching” as both his parents had died of cancer.

In total Carey was given 394,127 euros and 13,000 dollars, of which he repaid 44,203 euros.

The court heard how gardai were first alerted to Carey’s crimes by a financial institution, when one of their elderly customers tried to transfer money to him.

Carey told a number of his victims he would pay them back from compensation of more than a million euros he was due to receive from a civil action he said he had taken against the Health Service Executive (HSE), telling one person he had an “excessive dose of radiation” during his treatment at St James’s Hospital in Dublin.

Judge Nolan said that he had not taken a civil action against the HSE and “therefore, there was going to be no proceeds” and most of the money from the deception “wasn’t going to be repaid”.

The judge said that he could not imagine “a more reprehensible form” of fraud than to falsely tell people you have cancer.

He said he would put it at a similar “level” to deceiving 17 or 18 elderly people.