Serial conman who duped victims out of €150k has jail sentence increased

Michael McGauley, aged 49 and formerly of Highfield, Carrickmacross, has had his prison sentence increased following a successful appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions. McGauley pleaded guilty at Monaghan Circuit Criminal Court to five counts of deception and theft committed between February 2016 and October 2018, defrauding victims of approximately €149,600 in total. He was initially sentenced to three years' imprisonment with sentences running concurrently. The Court of Appeal, presiding over the case on 7 February 2022, found the original sentence unduly lenient and quashed it. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, sitting with Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy and Ms Justice Úna Ní Raifeartaigh, increased the sentence to five years' imprisonment, with sentences to run consecutively. The court noted the manner in which offences were perpetrated caused particular harm to victims. McGauley was ordered to surrender himself to prison authorities on 16 February 2022.