Woman who stole over €300k from TV chef's Cork restaurant to sell home to raise compensation 

A 52-year-old Kinsale woman who admitted stealing over €300,000 while employed at the Fishy Fishy restaurant over a period of several years is planning to sell her home to raise compensation for her former employer.

Nessa Gilsenan of Copper Beech House, Mellifontstown, Kinsale, appeared at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday, but sentencing was adjourned until November 4. The lengthy adjournment is to facilitate the sale of the property, Judge Helen Boyle was told today.

Defence senior counsel, Donal O’Sullivan, confirmed that the State had received €15,000 from the defendant on Tuesday as part of the compensation due in the case. Another sum was paid at an earlier stage.

“Thereafter I would ask for a sentencing date in the Michaelmas sessions (of Cork Circuit Criminal Court). A property has to be sold,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

Prosecution senior counsel Ray Boland said: “There is no objection to that.” So far, the full facts of the case have not been outlined in court. 

It is anticipated that this will be done at the sentencing hearing on November 4. Mr O’Sullivan said it was anticipated that the sentencing hearing was likely to take one hour.

The injured party referred to in charges against Nessa Gilsenan is TV chef Martin Shanahan who owns the award-winning Fishy Fishy restaurant in Kinsale.

Nessa Gilsenan previously pleaded guilty to nine charges. The first charge states that on dates in 2017 she committed theft in that she did dishonestly appropriated over €26,000. The next charges are expressed in similar charges in terms of the following years, namely: 2018, almost €55,000; 2019, over €75,000; 2020, over €63,000; 2021, almost €69,000; and 2022, almost €15,000.

The next three charges are for the falsification of documentation, namely the staff payroll system in order to make a gain for herself in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

The injured party, Mr Shanahan has appeared as a TV chef on a number of successful programmes and has also written a number of successful cookery books.

How Nessa Gilsenan committed the crimes at the centre of the case will be described by the investigating member of An Garda Síochána at the sentencing in November.