The Star: April 01, 2021

The Star Thursday April 1 2021
12
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Gambler who stole $1.4m from dead
relative blames underworld father
• By Kurt Bayer
A GAMBLER jailed for stealing
$1.4 million from a dead relative
has claimed he was fulfilling a
lifelong fantasy by following his
father into the murky world of
organised crime.
Edward “Eddie” James Quirke,
41, was jailed for four-and-a-half
years after looting the bank accounts
of his late father-in-law.
But in a stunning twist, Quirke
is now blaming his devious
exploits on his own father, and
using a childhood exposed to
crime to try and slash his time
behind bars.
Quirke’s lawyer argued on
Tuesday during an appeal
against his sentence at the High
Court that he grew up “in awe”
of his father and his shady associates.
Quirke “glorified” his dad’s behaviour,
defence counsel Donald
Matthews said, and wanted to
emulate him.
“His exposure to criminality
from a young age clearly influenced
him and stuck with him,”
Matthews said.
The dark influences stayed
with him until the opportunity
arose when his father-in-law died
in August 2016 and he was able
to “live out his fantasies” and
steal $1.4m.
Robin Milligan, was a joint
director with his wife, Shirley
Milligan, of the Milligan’s Radio
(1972) Ltd business.
When he died, the sole executor
and beneficiary of his estate
was Claire Elizabeth Quirke.
She was tasked to help with
making certain payments from
her dead father’s bank accounts
of a day-to-day nature.
But she allowed her husband
Eddie to take over the handling
of the funds.
The summary of facts showed
that on August 1, 2016, Eddie
Quirke logged into his father-inlaw’s
Milligan’s Radio Ltd bank
account without authorisation
and transferred $3000 into his
Eddie Quirke
own personal bank account.
That was the same day his
father-in-law had died.
Three days later, another $3000
was transferred by Quirke into
his bank account.
Between August 12 and September
13, 2016, Quirke accessed his
dead father-in-law’s business bank
account on 10 more occasions and
withdrew a total of $34,000.
The total amount taken out of
the Milligan’s Radio account by
Eddie Quirke was $40,000.
A further $12,600 was withdrawn
from Robin Milligan’s per-
Robin Milligan
sonal account by his son-in-law.
“Between September 20, 2016
and December 14, 2017, Mr
Quirke accessed another (BNZ)
bank account in the name of
Robin B Milligan on 76 occasions,
withdrawing a total
amount of $1,340,900,” the summary
of facts said.
Shirley Milligan would only
find out about the offending two
years later in January, 2018.
She reported the matter to
police.
Police investigations found
that more than $560,000 was
spent on gambling by Eddie
Quirke, about the same amount
on money transfers, more than
$128,000 on assets and just over
$121,000 in ATM withdrawals.
Claire Quirke’s personal bank
account also received money
transferred from her father’s
accounts.
The couple declined to make
a statement to police when they
were arrested.
When he was sentenced last
September, Eddie Quirke’s then
lawyer said a significant amount
of the stolen money had gone on
online gambling.
He pleaded guilty to four
charges of theft and four charges
of accessing a computer system
for dishonest purposes.
Judge Tom Gilbert said Eddie
Quirke’s pre-sentence report was
“not particularly positive” and
didn’t include much remorse or
awareness of the impact his offending
has had.
He jailed him for four-and-ahalf
years and ordered him to
pay $30,000 in reparations – by
way of selling six vehicles he
owned, including an Audi, Ford
Ranger ute, and Jaguar XJ which
needed repairs.
Claire Quirke’s lawyer
described it as a “tragic” set of
circumstances where she ended
up in court facing one charge
of theft by a person in a special
relationship.
While she doesn’t blame her
husband entirely, it was clear that
he was more to blame, the court
heard.
Claire Quirke was sentenced to
eight months of home detention
and also ordered to pay $30,000
reparation.
Now, Eddie Quirke has
launched an appeal against his
sentence, with his lawyer Matthews
arguing it was manifestly
excessive.
A psychological report provided
to the court outlined Quirke’s
fantasies in being involved in
high-end crime, noting that he
had “effectively glorified” his
father’s criminal behaviour.
While Matthews stressed it
could not be said his background
caused his offending, it should be
taken into account.
The lawyer also argued the
offending was not very sophisticated
and was over a shorter
period of time than other cases
the Crown had referred to.
But Crown prosecutor Barnaby
Hawes said the offending only
stopped because Quirke was
found out “and the money had
essentially run out”.
Hawes rejected Quirke’s claims
that his upbringing should be
taken into account, pointing to
the psychological report which
noted his crimes were “deliberate
and calculated” and allowed him
to fulfil his “aspirational wants”.
The Crown lawyer also noted
that Quirke was well into his 30s
when the crimes were committed,
and “a long way from childhood”.
He also said Quirke had shown
zero remorse and a lack of insight
into his offending, involving a
serious breach of trust.
Justice David Gendall reserved
his decision.
– NZ Herald
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