A man with a drug problem carried out a “mean-spirited and manipulative” romance fraud on a woman he met online, a court has heard.
James O’Connor (42) met the victim, who was living in Ontario, Canada, in early 2021 and they were soon in love and making plans to meet, Det Garda Laura Griskeviciute told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
In September 2021 O’Connor told the woman his van had broken down and he needed to pay €5,000 in child support to his ex-partner. She offered to lend him €2,000 on the strict conditions that it be repaid within three weeks, and wired the money across.
A few weeks later she asked O’Connor to pay her back as she had to move out of her rented home and was under financial stress but O’Connor failed to do so.
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Judge Orla Crowe said O’Connor spun the victim tales and excuses and sent her emotionally manipulative texts including threats to take his own life.
When the victim reported O’Connor to the Garda, he told them the woman was harassing him and he did not know why.
O’Connor, of Hazelbury Green, Clonee, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty last November to making a gain or causing a loss by deception between September 2021 and October 2021.
The judge said this was a “mean-spirited and manipulative” romance fraud. She said O’Connor had taken away the woman’s financial safety net, which was “a terrible thing to do to anybody”.
Defence barrister Keith Spencer told the court his client was a drug addict at the time, but is doing better now and actively involved in local football clubs.
He told the court that O’Connor feels remorseful for preying on a vulnerable person and has written a letter of apology. He said O’Connor had put together €3,300 to pay back the victim which, the court heard, she is willing to accept.
The victim participated in the sentence hearing from Canada via video-link. In a victim impact statement she told the court she believed she was in a relationship with O’Connor and never imagined he would take advantage of her.
She said she begged him to pay her back and that her relationship with her family broke down because they were angry at her for lending him the money.
O’Connor’s 24 previous convictions include four theft type offences and convictions for burglary, dangerous driving and endangerment.
The judge sentenced him to 18 months in prison, which she suspended for four years. She ordered that he be under the supervision of the Probation Service for 18 months and engage with offence and victim focused work during that time.
