Man who conned elderly woman out of €10,000 jailed for three years

A Kerry man with a track record in duping elderly women and men into paying him for work that was never done has beenwas jailed for three years for conning an elderly woman out of more than €10,000 that she had saved to pay for her funeral.

Man who conned elderly woman out of €10,000 jailed for three years

A Kerry man with a track record in duping elderly women and men into paying him for work that was never done has been was jailed for three years for conning an elderly woman out of more than €10,000 that she had saved to pay for her funeral.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin described the thefts carried out by Denis O’Brien, aged 29, of 2 Hazelwood Drive, Ballyspillane, Killarney, Co Kerry, as mean and despicable.

Detective Garda John Gleeson said the crimes were committed on September 26, 2019, when O’Brien called to the home of a 74-year-old woman at Brian Dillon Park in Cork.

He told her he was a nephew of her neighbour and he was doing work for her. The woman agreed to sign a cheque for €4,900 to a third party’s name, not to O’Brien.

“He stole another blank cheque and he took €600 from her house,” said Det Gda Gleeson.

“Another man went to the AIB on Patrick St later that day and cashed the €4,900.”

The defendant returned the following day and the woman went to her credit union, withdrew €4,500, and handed it to O’Brien.

Another man went to the bank and tried to cash the blank cheque which was then filled in, but the funds were not in the account to meet this withdrawal.

On October 30, O’Brien offered to pay her back, but said he would be doing so with a €15,000 cheque, and that she would first have to pay him €5,000 in cash.

Det Gda Gleeson said the woman was out of pocket by over €10,000 in total.

Paula McCarthy, defending, said O’Brien was full of remorse and had written a letter of apology to the woman, which he handed over in court. He also wanted time to pay her compensation.

Judge Ó Donnabháin noted from the victim impact statement that the €10,000 stolen from the 74-year-old by deceptions was money she had put aside to relieve others of the financial burden of her funeral.

The case had been adjourned before lunch yesterday until the afternoon as a proposal was being made by the defendant to gather compensation from family members.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said: “In cases like this, I worry from bitter experience about where it is coming from.”

Ms McCarthy said that members of his family were genuinely trying to gather it.

Judge Ó Donnabháin said:

It sounds like a hairy story to me … What I would be concerned about is that another stunt like this would be pulled somewhere else.

Det Gda Gleeson outlined details of O’Brien’s previous convictions for theft by deception where the victims were elderly and were duped into paying money for work he never did.

He said that the victims included an 80-year-old woman, a 68-year-old woman, a 67-year-old man, and an 86-year-old man.

Ms McCarthy said O’Brien had a cocaine addiction and mental health issues, and was engaging with counselling in prison.

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