A Mayo man who cost a number of businesses €141,000 after he claimed to work for a recruitment company to get free hotels, chauffeur driven cars, and hold an event at a five star hotel has been given a suspended sentence.
Daniel Duffy (27 ) of Manulla, Castlebar, who has been diagnosed as having “a narcissistic personality”, enlisted the service of a golf event management specialist, Colette Brady, to organise a website launch at the K Club in County Kildare.
Ms Brady has since been held financially responsible for the cost of the entertainment at €27,000 and a further €25,000 for the hotel bill. She is also at a loss of €73,000 which includes her consultancy fee and the fee to her golf management company for organising the event.
Ms Brady also booked hotels on behalf of Duffy which amounted to €8,000 and is personally liable for a €7,000 bill for Kildare based A&M chauffeurs which she had organised for the accused.
The bill for a six week stay in a south Dublin guesthouse, which amounted to €2,100, was also not paid by Duffy.
Duffy pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three charges of making a gain or causing a loss by deception on dates between September and November 2006. Four similar charges were taken into account.
Judge Patricia Ryan sentenced Duffy to three years in prison which she suspended on condition that he engage with the Probation Service for two years and attend for treatment as directed by medical practitioners.
She said she was taking into account the damage Duffy’s crimes had on Ms Brady both financially and to her reputation. She ordered that €15,000 which the accused had in court as a token of his remorse be handed over to her.
Judge Ryan also acknowledged that Duffy’s health difficulties had contributed to his involvement in the offence.
