Ireland Named in reporting
Samantha Cookes
Born 1988, from the ages reported. 10 reports across 4 cases, 14 Jul 2024 to 15 Apr 2025
Key facts
from every report naming them- Named as
- Convicted, accused, suspect
- Born
- 1988, from the ages reported
- Nationality
- English, as stated in a report
- Offences
- Theft, Theft and fraud (multiple), Social welfare fraud, Theft (deception)
- Where
- Co. Kerry
- Reporting
- 10 reports, 14 Jul 2024 to 15 Apr 2025
- Outlets
- irishtimes.com, thejournal.ie, rte.ie, irishmirror.ie, corkbeo.ie
Photographs
as published, with the outlet's credit
Images are shown from the outlet that published them and link back to the article. Copyright stays with the credited photographer or agency.
Cases
latest first- Samantha Cookes sentenced over theft of sofa and two armchairs Theft · Co. Kerry
Samantha Cookes (36), originally from Gloucester, was convicted in Cork in May 2019 on four fraud and theft charges and given a 14-week suspended sentence. She then lived in Cahersiveen and Kenmare, Co Kerry, until the end of 2022, and a sofa and two armchairs valued at over €5,000 were stolen from a Kenmare property she was renting. She was arrested in Tralee in July 2024 over social welfare fraud of €60,334.35 and was later sentenced to three years for it. On a Tuesday morning in Killarney she pleaded guilty to the theft and was sentenced to a further three months' imprisonment.
Sentenced, 15 Apr 2025Convicted · 1 report - Serial fraudster Samantha Cookes at centre of new Garda theft and fraud investigation in Kerry Theft and fraud (multiple) · Co. Kerry
Samantha Cookes, a 36-year-old UK national from Gloucester, is the subject of a new Garda theft and fraud investigation in Kerry covering a sensory toy website, missing furniture, unauthorised Airbnb subletting, and €36,250 in Arts Council grants secured between 2021 and 2022. She was arrested outside a post office in Tralee in July 2024 for social welfare fraud of €60,334.35 and sentenced in March 2025 to three years' imprisonment, a sentence the Irish Times reported as four years with the final year suspended. Cookes has previous fraud convictions in Britain in 2011 for a surrogacy scam and in Cork in 2019 and 2021. The new Kerry investigation is nearing a conclusion and may result in new criminal charges.
Sentenced, 10 Mar 2025Convicted, suspect · 2 reports - Sentenced to four years for social welfare fraud in Tralee Social welfare fraud · Co. Kerry
Samantha Cookes, a 36-year-old woman of no fixed abode, falsely claimed she suffered from Huntington's disease to collect €60,334.35 in supplementary and disability allowances from the Department of Social Protection between February 2020 and June 2024. She was arrested outside a post office in Tralee, Kerry, on 13 July 2024 after gardaí, alerted by social protection officers, obtained her medical records. Cookes pleaded guilty to two counts of deception and 16 sample theft charges at Tralee Circuit Criminal Court in February 2025. On 5 March 2025, Judge Ronan Munro sentenced her to four years in prison with the final year suspended, backdated to July 2024.
Sentenced, 5 Mar 2025Convicted, accused · 5 reports - English woman remanded over €60,000 social welfare fraud in Tralee Social welfare fraud · Co. Kerry
Samantha Jade Cookes, a 36-year-old English woman of no fixed abode, was arrested outside the Edward Street post office in Tralee on 12 July 2024 as part of an investigation into alleged welfare fraud. She is suspected of collecting 238 payments totalling €59,094 over a four-year period, allegedly claiming a Supplementary Welfare Allowance in February 2020 on the basis of Huntington's Disease and a disability allowance in September 2021. She was charged with defrauding the Department of Social Protection of almost €60,000 and with stealing two €232 disability allowance payments. She appeared before Judge David Waters at Tralee District Court on 13 July 2024, where bail was refused and the case was adjourned to 17 July. She was remanded in custody.
In court, 14 Jul 2024Accused · 2 reports
Timeline
every report naming Samantha Cookes, newest firstEach entry shows how that report described them.
- 15 Apr2025Serial fraudster Samantha Cookes convicted over theft of sofa and two armchairsconvicted, Samantha Cookes, 36, female, named, non-irish (judged from name)Samantha Cookes
- 22 Mar2025Serial fraudster Samantha Cookes at centre of new Garda investigationsuspect, Samantha Cookes, 36, female, named, non-irish (judged from name)Samantha Cookes
- 10 Mar2025Serial fraudster Samantha Cookes’s funding applications considered by Arts Council on ‘artistic merit’convicted, Samantha Cookes, 36, female, named, non-irish (judged from name)Samantha Cookes
- 5 Mar2025Samantha Cookes jailed for three years for 'carefully orchestrated' social welfare fraudconvicted, Samantha Cookes, 36, female, namedSamantha Cookes
- 5 Mar2025Serial fraudster jailed for three years for ‘deliberate fraud’ over protracted periodconvicted, Samantha Cookes, 36, female, named, irish (judged from name)Samantha Cookes
- 19 Feb2025Fraudster apologises for taking advantage of doctor and Department of Social Protectionconvicted, Samantha Cookes, 36, female, named, irish (judged from name)Samantha Cookes
- 19 Feb2025Woman in fraud case falsely claimed she had rare diseaseconvicted, Samantha Jade Cookes, 36, female, namedSamantha Jade Cookes
- 11 Feb2025Woman pleads guilty to stealing more than €60,000 from Department of Social Protectionaccused, Samantha Cookes, 36, female, named, irish (judged from name)Samantha Cookes
- 14 Jul2024Woman, 36, charged over €60,000 social welfare fraud in Kerryaccused, Samantha Jade Cookes, 36, female, named, non-irish (judged from name)Samantha Jade Cookes
- 14 Jul2024'Fake Nanny Carrie Jade' charged in Kerry over alleged social welfare fraudaccused, Samantha Cookes, 30s, female, English, named, non-irishSamantha Cookes
Matched on the name as printed, ignoring quoted nicknames, and split by the ages reported. Two people who share a name and age would appear together here.