Crooked Bill Irwin arriving at the courthouse in Derry this morning to learn his fate. PIC NORTHWEST NEWS PIX
BILL Irwin, the crooked brother-in-law of former DUP Assembly speaker Willie Hay, has been let off with a suspended sentence for running a £9,000 home heating oil fraud.
Disgraced William ‘Bill’ Irwin, from Duncastle Road, Newbuildings, arrived on his own at Bishops Street Courthouse in Derry this morning.
And a few hours later the 55-year-old left a free man after receiving just a six month prison sentence suspended for two years.
Irwin faced a total of 23 charges when he faced Derry Magistrates’ Court in February when he pleaded guilty to all counts.
Today, he was back in court to hear this sentencing fate.
The serious offences are regarded as a “breach of trust” because of his position he held at the time in the DUP office in Derry and was expected to safeguard its interests against fraud, theft and embezzlement.
But instead of immediately going to prison for a maximum of six months, Irwin walked out of court a free man.
The 23 separate charges relate to dates between March 2009 until February 2014.
The former DUP councillor had been accused of making a false claim to the Northern Ireland Assembly for payment towards heating oil expenditure.
The total amount involved in the scam was £8,960.
But the court has been told only £5,000 of the money has been repaid leaving a balance of £3,960.
The court was told that he had heating oil delivered to his home and was invoicing it through the DUP constituency office of Willie Hay at Ebrington Terrace in Derry.
A prosecution lawyer said it was therefore being paid out of the public purse through the Assembly.
During the period of the offences, Irwin was a constituency office worker in the DUP’s main Waterside office.
He had previously represented the party on Derry City Council from 1993 until 1997.
The charges against crooked Irwin arose following a BBC NI Spotlight investigation by award winning reporter Mandy Macauley into the fraudulent misuse of expenses by MLAs.
She discovered that in one year £4,355 had been claimed for home heating oil for Mr Hay’s constituency office.
The probe also discovered that the cost of heating Mr Hay’s officer had increased from £265 over a ten-year period.
As soon as Spotlight raised the issue with Mr Hay, Bill Irwin was immediately suspended and the PSNI informed.
Tags: