Jail and fine for 'mix of Jim'll Fix It and Del Boy'
A CON artist who persuaded horse trainers to stump up cash for non-existent horse walkers, and builders to pay deposits for diggers that never existed, was sentenced to two years in jail at a sitting of Kildare District Court last week.
Paul Delaney, 44, of 11 Oakland Grove, Dunmurray Road, Kildare town, was before the court on several charges of making gain or causing loss by deception on dates which occurred in 2007 and 2008.
He was described by Judge Desmond Zaidan as "a mix of Jim'll Fix It and Del Boy".
The court heard evidence that when Mr Delaney, who has alcohol problems, was carrying out his scams, he would offer goods for sale and take deposits he said he needed in order to ensure their delivery.He would often give receipts with his own name, address and signature on them. He would even meet those he was defrauding at his home.
In one of Mr Delaney's recent operations, the court heard, he persuaded two local horse trainers to give him deposits of n1,000 and n1,200 respectively for horse walkers he said were coming from a bankrupt stud farm in England.
When asked by Judge Zaidan how anyone could fall for the tales of the defendant, the prosecuting garda said: "I've known the defendant for the past 15 years and if he had to go to work as a salesman he would be the country's number one salesman if he slapped a suit on himself."
Mr Delaney had nine previous convictions for similar offences, the court heard. His modus operandi was to go through the Golden Pages and customise his pitch to anyone receptive to his stories.
On another charge in front of the court, on September 9 last he persuaded a builder to part with n940 cash for a mini digger.
The injured parties' gullibility played a part in the success of the frauds.
Defending solicitor Conal Boyce pointed out that none of the injured parties had asked to see the goods, double checked their provenance or asked to see a photo. "You would not order a bride from overseas without seeing a photo," remarked Mr Boyce.
In one of the phantom horse-walker cases, Mr Boyce noted that Mr Delaney gave the name of a third party as a referee to one of his victims, but the reference was never checked out. "There was a huge amount of gormery on behalf of the person doing the buying," he said.
Mr Delaney found himself having to carry out further scams to pay back original deposits, and found himself "robbing Peter to pay Paul".
The defendant suffers from a drink problem and most of his money goes on drink.
Judge Zaidan wondered if the defendant was running a business called Trotters' Independent Trading Company. "Is he going to try and sell sand to me?" he quipped.
Taking the stand, the defendant first attempted to tell the court that he carried out the scams because there was a person coming to his door and putting a gun to his mouth, and he feared for his three children's safety.
"Can you help get me into an alcohol home," he asked. "Can you get me help with drink."
Judge Zaidan replied that he could learn about alcohol awareness in prison. He reminded the defendant that he had previously left him his liberty so he could attend a child’s confirmation, and then he had carried out a further confidence trick.
Judge Zaidan imposed a combined prison sentence of two years for the various deception charges on which the defendant was presented. He also fined him n7,000 and recommended that he receive counselling for alcohol addiction.
Recognisances were fixed to appeal.
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Thursday 17 May 2012
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