A former Wicklow town clerk has been spared a prison sentence for corruption, but ordered to pay a €10,000 fine.

In 2006, 65-year-old Frank O'Toole furnished a false letter to help a developer with a multi-million euro project.

Mr O'Toole grabbed his wife's outstretched hand when Judge Gerard Griffin told him he was going to suspend an 18 month sentence in full.

While working as Wicklow town clerk in 2006, he signed a letter confirming that levies on a €2.7m development had been paid. They had not.

The developer told him he had pay them from the sale of apartments and retail space, but that did not happen until 2013 - and by then Mr O'Toole had admitted issuing the false letter.

He argued he had done the "wrong thing for the right reason”" and insisted he did not gain from what he did, but he was convicted of corruption last month.

Judge Griffin said today it was clear to him that he had done the "wrong thing for the wrong reason" and gravely breached the trust of the people of Wicklow.

The 65-year-old will not be going to prison, but has been given six months to pay a €10,000 fine.