74-Year-Old Grandmother Jailed for Insurance Fraud Involving False Injury Claims In Dublin

A 74-year-old grandmother and mother of 16 has been sentenced to jail for insurance fraud. She falsely claimed multiple times that she had slipped and injured herself on footpaths and in stores.

Winnifred Lawrence, residing in Moorfield Grove, Clondalkin, Dublin, received over €28,000 for the false claims made under a fake identity between 2012 and 2014.

Lawrence, a repeat offender, alleged she tripped on footpaths in Lucan and Leixlip, slipped on a substance in Tesco and the Book Value bookshop, burned her leg on a heater on a bus in O’Connell Street, tripped getting off another bus in Ballyfermot, and slipped on a cabbage leaf in an Iceland store.

She filed claims under her name and the name of Margaret Mongan, succeeding in three claims and receiving over €28,310 but failing in three others.

IPB Insurance, responsible for covering public liability for council footpaths, compiled evidence and reported the matter to the gardaí.

Following an inquiry by the Garda Economic Crime Bureau, Lawrence pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud committed between 2012 and 2014.

During the court proceedings, her defence counsel highlighted Lawrence’s disadvantaged background, including her Traveller heritage, lack of education, functional illiteracy, and poor health.

Despite these circumstances, Judge Pauline Codd handed down a three-and-a-half-year sentence, with the final year-and-a-half suspended.

Expressing remorse, Lawrence apologized to the judge, promising it would not happen again. However, Judge Codd emphasized the need for punishment.

IPB’s lead anti-fraud investigator, Joyce Foley, welcomed the court’s decision, stressing its significance in sending a clear message that insurance fraud will not be tolerated.

Foley emphasized the impact of insurance fraud on everyone’s premiums and highlighted the difficulty in obtaining convictions due to the high evidentiary standards and lengthy investigative processes involved in such cases.