Forgery case against Wexford PE teacher adjourned for Probation Act clarification
Wexford PeopleA secondary school teacher from Co Wexford was before the District Court on Tuesday in relation to forgery charges.
Wayne Fletcher (60) of Ballygarrett, Saltmills, Wexford was charged with forging his ex partner’s signature on the logbook of her car in order to transfer ownership of the vehicle over to him.
Last week, Judge John King had orginally adjourned the matter to Tuesday June 24 for Fletcher to pay €1,000 compensation to Wexford Women’s Refuge. If this amount was paid then a three year conditional discharge would apply, the judge ruled.
Despite Fletcher paying the compensation when the case was called again yesterday (Tuesday), finalisation of the case has been adjourned again by Judge Paula Murphy to October 23 to allow for clarification as to what section of the Probation Act should apply.
Last Tuesday, June 16, Fletcher’s ex partner Caroline Egan gave evidence to the court that she was in Waterford Hospital from May 22 2022 to October 12 2022 as a result of a fall from which she sustained a broken pelvis and had steel rods inserted into her legs and pelvis.
Ms Egan told the court that she had informed Fletcher he could use her car while she was in hospital. However, when she was released from hospital she returned to their home to collect her belongings and discovered the logbook to her car had been signed over to the accused. She also discovered insurance documents in the car naming Fletcher and his new partner – Carol Watson – as the named drivers.
Ms Egan told the court that it was “almost like she had died”, with Fletcher allegedly telling her he “inherited” the car. Ms Egan said she was shocked to see the documents had been signed by Fletcher just two days before she was discharged from the hospital.
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The driving licence of Ms. Egan was presented to the court along with a signed deed of the sale of a property so that Judge King could assess the difference in her signature in comparison to the signature on the logbook, which was also handed in to court.
Eileen O’Neill, solicitor for the defendant, asked Ms. Egan if she had been heavily medicated while she was in hospital and if there may be gaps in her memory as a result of the painkillers she had been taking. Ms. Egan denied both statements put to her.
Ms O’Neill suggested that she may have some issues with her memory as Ms. Egan had originally said she was released from hospital on a different date before changing it once she had seen the date on the logbook. Ms O’Neill also asked Ms Egan is she was “bitter” about the end of her relationship with the accused.
Ms Egan responded, alleging that Fletcher was “controlling and intimidating” and that she left their home in 2020 and moved into an apartment with her daughter. She sought counselling at the time and confirmed that she is not bitter about how things ended.
Garda O’Mahony told the court she accompanied Ms Egan to her former home on January 29 2024 to collect some belongings. Garda O’Mahony overheard a phone call between Ms. Egan and the defendant where he made comments about how much he hated her.
Wayne Fletcher was then called to the stand by Ms. O’Neill and gave a brief timeline to their relationship including how Ms. Egan had sold his car to her ex-husband and promised him the car in question in return. The defendant told the court that he was visiting Ms Egan while she was in hospital and on some occasions collected her daughter on the way too.
According to Fletcher’s testimony, Ms. Egan’s daughter informed him that she was beginning driving lessons and he suggested to Caroline that she transfer the car to him so that he may insure her daughter and she can then use this car for driving practice. Fletcher alleges that this is how the incident of the logbook initially arose and Ms. Egan simply told him to sign her name on her behalf while she was in hospital.
Ms. O’Neill then submitted text messages between Fletcher and Ms. Egan to the court where Ms. Egan is alleged to have sent messages detailing how her “memories are mixed up” and there are “holes in her memory” that she is struggling to fill in.
The defendant told the court he had no intention of defrauding his ex-partner and simply believed as he was signing the logbook with her permission that this made it okay since they would have signed or amended documents for each other throughout their relationship.
Ms. O’Neill outlined to the court that the accused has no previous convictions and as he is a PE teacher for a Co Wexford secondary school a conviction would be detrimental to his career. Ms. O’Neill further highlighted that the logbook to the car had been returned and that there was no malicious intent to defraud Ms. Egan on behalf of her client.
The matter was adjourned to June 24 and now stands adjourned to October 23 to clarify what section of the Probation Act should apply.