A former prison officer turned serial con man who was the subject of an RTÉ Liveline campaign to track him down has been given a three-year suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Thomas McLoughlin (51 ) from Ballyhaunis was the subject of a campaign on Joe Duffy’s show to find "Tom the Con" after listeners called in to complain of being scammed in various ways including not paying for hotels and using false bank drafts.
He appeared before Judge Frank O’Donnell for taking deposits on an apartment from two foreign nationals and not letting them move in.
He was also found in possession of cheques stolen from various people including a solicitor's office.
McLoughlin, originally from Ballyhaunis, but now of Wellington Road, Donnybrook, has 41 previous convictions, all of them relating to fraud.
Defence counsel, Mr Garrett Baker BL, said most of the money was eventually restored to the victims except for €2,425 owed to the two foreign nationals. He told Judge O’Donnell on Wednesday that the balance of that money had been handed over to the prosecuting garda Gerard Fallon for distribution to the victims.
Judge O’Donnell said he did not need to repeat the evidence “suffice to say your record shows there is a consistent pattern of offending that falls under the umbrella of deception, theft and fraud”.
He accepted that McLoughlin’s offences were “not violent in nature” but added that he had not shown “any regard for your victims”.
Judge O’Donnell said that McLoughlin’s previous occupation as a prison officer should have made him aware of the “consequences of his actions” but accepted that he has not come to garda attention since and a probation report before the court indicated that he was “motivated to address his offending behaviour”.
He suspended the entire sentence on condition that he keep the peace and be of good behaviour for three years and liaise with the probation service for 12 months.
Gda Fallon told prosecuting counsel, Ms Fiona Murphy BL, that in September 2006, McLoughlin offered to rent an apartment to a Polish waitress he met. He showed her the apartment, which was actually his partner’s home, and over several meetings took €800 in deposits from her.
When he repeatedly delayed the date when the woman could move in she asked for her deposit back. He said he would send it back to her by post but this never happened and she was unable to contact him further.
In July 2005, a young Greek national contacted McLoughlin who offered to rent him the same apartment. The man paid over €1,150 as a deposit. Again McLoughlin repeatedly delayed the moving-in date, claiming he needed time to move his sister’s furniture out.
When the man said he no longer wanted to move in McLoughlin said he would put the deposit back in his account but failed to do so and gardaí were contacted.
In August 2006, Mr Brian Allen checked his bank balance and found to his surprise that he was €33,950 overdrawn. He contacted gardaí who had arrested McLoughlin that day and found Mr Allen’s chequebook on him.
He was also in possession of a chequebook belonging to Lennon Solicitors, on City Quay. Previously, McLoughlin has used a stolen cheque to buy a car for €8,000 from VK Motors on Kileen Road.
He had handed over a cheque for €8,175 and asked for €175 cash back. He left with the €175 but never returned to collect the car.
He was also charged with failing to pay a bill for €150 from a Bray Hotel. On his arrest in August 2006, he admitted all of the offences and was co-operative with gardaí.
He opted to take a trial date but changed his plea to guilty the day before it was due to start. He pleaded guilty to counts of attempting to make a gain through deception, handling stolen property and theft.
Mr Baker said McLoughlin had been a prison officer for seven years in the seventies and eighties and had received a commendation from the Minister for Justice in 1981 for saving an inmates’ life.
He said around this time McLoughlin turned to alcohol and found himself sporadically homeless over the next several years. He said he tried to get help for his alcoholism but was forced to commit fraud to get money to survive.
