HE was the leader of Edinburgh City Council, an Eton educated conservative with six months to live and £500,000 to give to a small Leitrim parish. It seemed a gift from heaven and the village of Mohill welcomed John Cronin with open arms. Except they knew him as David Mulligan.
He was taken to parish functions where he sang Scottish songs. They took him to the bishop's palace to meet Bishop Colm O'Reilly. Four days later he left the village in a taxi with £1,180 in cash from parish funds.
This was the persona adopted by the unemployed Scottish convict who travelled from Dublin to Mohill on May 30th.
He had telephoned the parish priest, Canon Sean Rooney, saying he would be visiting the area to trace his roots.
The canon put him up in the parochial house and took him on a tour of the schools and churches in the area that the mythical £500,000 would support. He said he was dying of Hodgkins disease and had six months to live.
It was a typical Cronin scam. He had boasted to gardai about the best way to con people appeal to their material instincts and offer them money.
Dr O'Reilly met him on his last day in Mohill, on Sunday afternoon. "He was quite a talker." "But he grew a little hazy when asked about his family. He asked the bishop not to repeat details of the conversation outside the room. "All my instincts were that he was a conman.
The Bishop said he meant to telephone Canon Rooney and his curate to warn them about the man. But Cronin had gone with the weekend's parish dues before he got the chance.
Cronin was more than just a conman. Just over two weeks ago he was released from Shotts Prison in Scotland after serving a four year sentence for a horrific sexual attack on a female Conservative Party worker, known only as Judy X. The judge described him as a "Walter Mitty gone mad".
In May 1992, a year after he received his fourth and final conviction in an Irish court, Cronin had approached the woman in her house, dressed as a priest, offering a donation to party funds. He tried to strangle the woman and then sexually assaulted her.
She later shared a platform with the British Prime Minister, Mr Major, at a Conservative Party conference, calling for longer sentences for sex offenders.
He received a life sentence from Lord McCluskey, who described him as a danger to the public. On appeal the sentence was reduced to six years. Cronin received the standard two thirds remission for good behaviour and was released on May 29th. While in prison he wrote to the Scottish Daily Record, saying Judy X had caused him misery and pain and he was going to track her down.
On May 29th he travelled with his father to Dublin to avoid the media attention. According to his Garda statement his father gave him £400 and his mother had bought him new clothes. It was to be a fresh start.
Before he visited Mohill, Cronin took on the persona of a priest with a passionate interest in politics. On May 30th, the day after his release, he presented himself at Leinster House, dressed as a priest, saying he was a tourist. He introduced himself as Father Brian Murphy.
He was admitted to the public gallery, asked for three TDs, one woman and two men, and telephoned a number of others. According to one TD, who did not want to be named, Cronin said he "wanted to help", but couldn't give an address in Dublin and gave a false address in Edinburgh.
He met Mr Eric Byrne (DL) on the steps outside and addressed him by his first name. He told him he was an Oxford graduate whose father had died, leaving him a lot of money and he wanted to make a large donation to Democratic Left. "His knowledge of politics was unpriestly", Mr Byrne said. Cronin later told gardai he had bought a copy of Nealon's Guide to the Dail.
Mr Byrne said he took him to his office on Kildare Street to give him the address of party headquarters. He became suspicious, and after he left he informed Dail security.
The following Wednesday Cronin was picked up by gardai after Mr Byrne agreed to meet him "for a pint" in Buswells Hotel. He was questioned by gardai, who removed his priest's collar, and was released. "He had committed no offence".
In the nine days between June 2nd and his arrest on Tuesday he spent all the £1,180. He told, gardai he'd been staying in the best hotels.
At 10.50 a.m. yesterday he walked into Navan District Court and sat with his hands in his lap watching Judge John Brophy issue speeding fines to motorists. Hiss eyes darted from the judge to the motorist, and occasionally to the table of reporters. He did not move his head.
Gardai described him as personable and plausible. "He was some boy", they agreed. He had boasted to them about how he conned five out of seven companies in Edinburgh by billing them as a financial consultant.