Rogue roofer scammed Dublin woman (84) out of €3,000

A judge has adjourned sentencing a roofer found guilty of scamming €3,000 from a frightened 84-year-old woman for unnecessary work at her north Co Dublin cottage.

John McCarthy jnr (21), with an address at the Lane, College Farm, Newbridge, Co Kildare was convicted by Judge John Brennan at Dublin District Court in January of theft from Kathleen Byrne on November 3rd, 2014. He had denied the charge.

On Wednesday, the judge was furnished with a pre-sentence probation report on McCarthy, and a victim impact statement from Ms Byrne was also handed in to court by Garda John Doran.

Judge Brennan said he needed some time to consider the reports and the victim’s statement.

He adjourned the case until later date this month.

McCarthy, who did not address the court, was remanded on continuing bail.

During the trial, the pensioner had said she was intimidated and brought by the roofer to her local post pffice to withdraw the cash from her savings. An engineer also told the court the work McCarthy said he would carry at her Raheny cottage was not needed.

The court heard that after McCarthy left the woman’s home, he claimed he went to a building supplier which was 15 minute drive away but after two hours he had still not returned.

Judge Brennan has said that it was a “quite despicable” act; Ms Byrne, he added, was a vulnerable woman living on her own and had €3,000 extracted from her in circumstances where no documentary evidence such as receipts or quotations were provided to her which he imagined would be normal for responsible businesses.

He also said she was not given any time to consider her options and she was “ferried” to the Post Office to get the money.

The court heard Ms Byrne lived in thatched cottage with a flat roofed extension. The defendant had initially quoted her €120 to clean the roof and she let him do the work.

After about 20 minutes McCarthy came down and told her “the whole roof is broke you can see the boards and the felt is gone”. When they got back to her house, some of his crew were still there. Ms Byrne said he told her the work had been completed and he left.

In his statement to gardaí, McCarthy, who worked for his father’s firm, claimed he had gone out to buy felt and wood for the job. However, he was unable to say how much materials he needed.

Garda Doran carried out checks and found out the firm, AA Advanced Roofing and Guttering Contracts, was not a registered company.