Taxi man who wrongly claimed disability payments given suspended jail sentence - Donegal News

A MANORCUNNINGHAM man who earned more than €153,000 driving taxis while fraudulently claiming disability allowance has received a suspended sentence at Letterkenny District Court. Daniel Williams, 41 Abbey Park, Manorcunningham, was handed a three-month suspended sentence on Monday after the court heard how he continued to draw disability allowance payments for six years while concealing […]

A MANORCUNNINGHAM man who earned more than €153,000 driving taxis while fraudulently claiming disability allowance has received a suspended sentence at Letterkenny District Court.

Daniel Williams, 41 Abbey Park, Manorcunningham, was handed a three-month suspended sentence on Monday after the court heard how he continued to draw disability allowance payments for six years while concealing a substantial income from taxi work across multiple locations, including Dublin.

Judge Daly described the case as “a serious matter, a large amount of money over a long period of time” and said Williams “clearly was not entitled to disability allowance.” The sentence was suspended on condition that Williams continues repaying the outstanding debt and does not re-offend.

Williams had been in receipt of disability allowance since 2016. The means-tested payment permitted him to earn a maximum of €150 per week alongside his benefit. The court heard, however, that from January 2018 to April 2024, he earned €153,365.72 providing taxi services, far in excess of the permitted threshold.

Suspicion was first raised by the Special Investigations Unit of the Department of Social Protection when Williams was unable to account for transactions that had grown his bank balance. Initial explanations offered to investigators included claims that lodgements, some running into the hundreds of euros, were “gambling income” or funds being moved between his own accounts.

As the investigation deepened, Williams claimed he was neither the owner nor the driver of the taxi linked to his earnings. That account unravelled when investigators contacted multiple taxi companies that had used his services. One firm provided investigators with Williams’ name, mobile number, and vehicle details, including that he had been driving a 2025-registered car, and confirmed he had made a “substantial amount of money.”

At least three separate interviews took place with Williams as new information continued to emerge in the investigation.

Williams claimed the earnings were not his, but taxi firms told investigators otherwise.

The Department of Social Protection subsequently determined the disability allowance payments constituted overpayments and issued an order for their recovery. Repayments commenced in 2025 at a rate of €100 per week, with €25,818 still outstanding at the time of sentencing.

Defending solicitor Mr Patsy Gallagher noted his client had entered an early guilty plea, had a health condition, and had no previous convictions. He acknowledged the scale of the repayment task, telling the court his client “has to reach €25,000.”

State Solicitor for Donegal, Mr Kieran Dillon, called for a defined end date to be established for the repayment schedule.

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