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Two men have been sentenced to two years in prison each for forcing an elderly and vulnerable woman to buy a variety of power tools, chainsaws and generators that she had no use for.
Brothers Thomas O’Driscoll, 39, of Boherbue, Rathkeale, and Patrick O’Driscoll of Wolfburgess East, Rathkeale, Co Limerick, 38, pleaded guilty to charges of theft and deception worth 6,500 euros.
They were sentenced in Cork Circuit Criminal Court by Judge Sean Ó Donnabháin, who described the men’s actions as a total invasion of privacy and said the crimes were extremely serious.
Thomas and Patrick O’Driscoll traveled from their homes in Rathkeale west of Cork on November 20, 2018 in a Ford Transit van filled with power tools. They spent the night at Skibbereen. The next day they met a woman in town and struck up a conversation with her.
The brothers were described as very charming. The woman was described in court by Detective Garda Martin Bohane of Bantry as elderly and vulnerable. She lived alone.
A few hours after initially meeting the woman, the two brothers arrived at the woman’s home – 25 miles from Skibbereen – and, while one was chatting with her about Our Lady of Lourdes, the other filled the room with a dozen of chainsaws, 11 generators, seven pressure washers and boxes of knives and other tools.
The woman protested that she didn’t need the tools, but the men kept changing the subject.
She later told Gardaí that she felt vulnerable, bewildered, worried, scared, and ashamed.
He wrote the men six checks totaling 25,000 euros before leaving, leaving the tools behind.
Two of the checks, for a total value of 6,500 euros, were cashed before the woman reported the matter to Gardaí.
Thomas and Patrick O’Driscoll were identified and arrested, before being charged with the crimes of deception and robbery. They pleaded guilty.
At his sentencing hearing today, Judge Ó Donnabháin said that both men had shown a level of total criminality in their determination, planning, monitoring and treatment of the woman. He said it was a total invasion of his privacy.
“They were very overwhelming, according to the evidence,” Judge Ó Donnabháin said. “She was alone in all stages and, not alone, she did not have time to think, she barely had time to breathe.”
Judge Ó Donnabháin, who rejected calls from defense attorneys for suspended sentences, said the crimes were extremely serious and that he imprisoned both men for two years.
Gardaí later praised the woman implicated for coming forward and filing a complaint.
“This is a very cruel and heinous crime,” said Bantry Superintendent Ronan Kennelly.
“Today’s conviction is a vindication of his efforts to have An Garda Síochána investigate this type of crime and would appeal to anyone in the public who has been the subject of similar incidents to come forward and we will investigate.”
Superintendent Kennelly also asked the public to contact gardaí regarding suspected cold callers.
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