Bogus boiler repair man was scamming elderly people

A 27-YEAR-OLD Carlow man who targeted elderly residents in bogus repairman house calls has been remanded in custody for sentencing consideration after pleading guilty to two counts of deception. Noel Byrne, 23 Riverbank, Poachers Gate, appeared before Judge Geraldine Carthy at the local district court, where he admitted to two charges under section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001.

The court heard evidence from Garda Mooney regarding an incident on 4 March, when Mr Byrne called to the home of a 69-year-old man in Carlow town, claiming he was there to carry out work on the boiler. The defendant requested €500 payment. When the man said he had no cash available, Mr Byrne escorted him to the nearest ATM and waited while he withdrew the money. CCTV footage captured the incident. No work was carried out on any boiler system.

In a separate incident on 25 February, detailed in evidence from Garda O’Keefe, Mr Byrne gained entry to another home by deception. The injured party, believing his son had arranged a boiler inspection, admitted the defendant to his house. Mr Byrne requested €80 but accepted €40 when told that was all the cash available. The victim quickly became suspicious and rang his son to ask him about the alleged boiler inspection. His son had no knowledge of any arranged visit.

Judge Carthy noted that her colleague Judge Cronin had heard Mr Byrne’s case in relation to other matters and that the date for getting the probation report ready was originally 7 May.

However, the two deception matters before the court – for which the defendant had entered a guilty plea – were not included in the report, explained defence solicitor Chris Hogan. He added that his client missed out on his daughter’s First Communion the previous weekend because he had been remanded in custody in relation to this case.

“My client is anxious to make a plea in relation to the matters for which he is on remand,” said Mr Hogan, adding that the defendant’s wife was present in court and had brought €500 in compensation in relation to the fraud/deception matters.

The court heard that Mr Byrne had 32 previous convictions, including for handling stolen property, theft and causing deception, with sentences ranging from community service to custody. However, it was noted that 16 previous deception offences all dated from the same court day six years ago, with other convictions spanning 2019 to 2022.

Mr Hogan explained that his client’s offending was linked to cocaine addiction and that Mr Byrne had been engaging with addiction services, including Narcotics Anonymous, while in prison. The defendant was seeking a place in residential treatment and had brought €500 to court as compensation. The solicitor added that his client wished to apologise to the court.

Judge Carthy said she would not finalise the case on the day, stating: “I put your client on election.” She remanded Mr Byrne in custody until the following day, when matters would be concluded via video link in Kilkenny, adding: “I will consider this overnight.”