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A man scammed two elderly women tens of thousands of euros, including a life’s savings, by telling them a series of “crying stories”, a Dublin court has heard.
Gerry O’Brien (41) convinced his victims that he should receive a substantial payment on an insurance claim before stealing € 107,286 and € 27,254 from women over several months.
His wife, Joanne O’Brien (39), stole a total of € 900 from one of the women on two occasions.
Gerry O’Brien told the women several stories to convince them to hand over money in the form of checks and cash, including that he needed a deposit for a house, needed medical attention, needed to drill holes in his walls for an oxygen machine, and had been evicted.
He convinced his victims that he would return their money with the fictitious payment.
At one point, O’Brien paid “a young man” to pose as a lawyer and phone the women to confirm this story, the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Tuesday.
Gerry O’Brien, of Belmont Close, Ballyguile, Co Wicklow pleaded guilty to one count of theft of € 107,286 in cash and checks by deception from Beryl Tilson (then 77 years old) at an address in Sandyford between July 2017 and November of 2018.
He also pleaded guilty to a theft charge of € 27,254 in cash and checks from Rosemary Fitzgerald (then 73) by cheating at an address in Blackrock between August and November 2018.
Joanne O’Brien, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft by Ms. Tilson on December 23, 2017 and July 12, 2018.
Garda Detective Paul Kane told the court that Gerry O’Brien first knocked on Ms. Tilson’s door in July 2017 and told her a “sad story” about being evicted from her home. He told her that he was a traveler from Wicklow with several children. Ms. Tilson gave him € 100 in cash and returned a few days later in search of more money.
For the next 16 months, she regularly gave him cash and checks for a variety of fictitious reasons. He also gave Joanne O’Brien money twice when he called the house.
In relation to Ms Fitzgerald, the court heard that Gerry O’Brien called her home and told her that he was the son of a nomadic woman whom he used to help 25 years ago. They also persuaded her to give him money on several occasions.
Fake lawyer
On one occasion, the bogus attorney who called the two women about the insurance claim also told Ms. Tilson that O’Brien had been kidnapped in the mountains and needed the ransom money. Ms. Tilson replied that she had already given O’Brien all of her money.
The crimes in relation to Ms Tilson came to light in November 2018 when a bank worker became suspicious of activity on her account and Gardaí was contacted. Coincidentally, around the same time, Mrs. Fitzgerald confided in her son about O’Brien and he, too, got in touch with the Gardaí.
In a victim impact statement read in court, Ms Tilson’s daughter said that her mother was a kind and hardworking woman, who had always donated generously to charity and taught her children to do the same. .
He said the O’Briens exploited their mother’s kindness with their “sob stories” and asked her for more and more money. She was subjected to a “barrage of intimidating and pleading phone calls” and “had no peace in her own home.”
At one point, he said his mother ran out of heating oil in winter because she was short of money as a result of the crime. His children only discovered the thefts when the gardaí got involved.
“Gerry and Joanne scammed Mom out of most of their life savings,” said Ms. Tilson’s daughter.
In a victim impact statement read by the prosecutor, Ms. Fitzgerald said the robberies had left her “distraught.” He said he only had one question for Gerry O’Brien: “Don’t you have a conscience?”
The court heard Gerry O’Brien, who is in custody, has 68 prior convictions, including robbery, fraud and assault.
Joanne O’Brien has 28 prior convictions, almost entirely for traffic violations. The couple has four children.
Seoirse O Dunlaing BL, defending Gerry O’Brien, said his client was extremely sorry for his actions. A psychological report and a letter of remorse were delivered to the court.
Judge Pauline Codd said the letter “did not contain any remorse for the two women whose kindness exploded.” “This letter is only about your problems,” he said.
Marc Murphy BL, defending Joanne O’Brien, said that his client had returned the 900 euros that he stole from Ms Tilson.
Judge Codd postponed the matter until May 17 to pass judgment.
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