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Single mum goes on spending spree after bank error

The mum of of two walked free from court!

A single mum has walked free from court after admitting spending $35,000 wrongly deposited to her bank account.

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Margaret McDonnell, 23, went on a two week spending spree after almost $73,000 (51,000 euros) appeared in her account.

The mum-of-two bought bedclothes, shoes and clothes for her children, as well as eating out every night and buying crystal vases as gifts.

McDonnell, who claims benefits, appeared at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, where she pleaded guilty 13 counts of theft from the Bank of Ireland.

She was given a suspended sentence of 18 months on condition she paid back $1400 within 18 months.

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Image: Getty

The court heard a bank customer had gone into a branch to ask for his details so he could transfer the cash from overseas in March 2013.

He was given the wrong details, resulting in the money landing in McDonnell’s account, instead of his own, soon after.

The court was told McDonnell had never been in trouble with the law before and was highly unlikely to reoffend.

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McDonnell herself said ‘any young girl on social welfare like me would have done what I did.’

Referring to the money transferred to McDonnell, Judge Cormac Quinn said: ‘If it’s too good to be true it is because it is too good to be true.’

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