By Paul Reynolds
Crime Correspondent
A 74-year-old grandmother from Dublin has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for making fraudulent insurance claims totaling over €28,000. Winnifred Lawrence, a mother of 14, falsely claimed multiple injuries between 2012 and 2014, seeking compensation for accidents that never occurred.
Living in Moorfield Grove, Clondalkin, Lawrence concocted stories about tripping on footpaths in Lucan and Leixlip, slipping on substances at Tesco and Book Value bookshop, and even claimed she burned her leg on a heater aboard a bus in O’Connell Street. She also alleged to have slipped on a cabbage leaf at an Iceland store and tripped while exiting a bus in Ballyfermot.
To increase her chances of success, Lawrence used both her own name and the false identity of Margaret Mongan to submit the claims. She was successful in three of them, receiving a total of €28,310, but her other claims were unsuccessful.
The insurance company IPB Insurance, which handles public liability for councils and other businesses, compiled a report and contacted the Gardaí. This led to an investigation by the Garda Economic Crime Bureau, which uncovered Lawrence’s fraudulent activities. She pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud in relation to the false claims, which occurred over a span of two years.
In court, Lawrence’s defense team highlighted her background, noting she came from a Traveller community, had limited education, and struggled with illiteracy and health problems. Despite this, Judge Pauline Codd sentenced her to three-and-a-half years in prison, with the final 18 months of the sentence suspended. Lawrence expressed remorse, telling the judge, “I’m very sorry, it’ll never happen again.” However, Judge Codd replied, “You have to be punished.”
Joyce Foley, the lead anti-fraud investigator at IPB Insurance, welcomed the sentence, emphasizing that the case sends a clear message about the consequences of insurance fraud. Foley added that such fraud harms everyone by increasing insurance premiums, and stressed how challenging it is to secure convictions due to the high standards of evidence required.
This case serves as a reminder of the serious consequences of attempting to defraud insurers, with convictions often taking years of investigation to achieve.
