‘Not very nice’ – judge fines gutter cleaner €500 for deceiving clients
A cleaner who duped homeowners into giving him money to clean gutters claimed there was “an element of misunderstanding” between him and the victims, a court heard.
Thomas Connors (29) took money from two people to clean their gutters, but he failed to do the work.
Judge Stephanie Coggans convicted and fined Connors €500, saying the defendant’s behaviour was “not very nice”.
The defendant, with an address at Ballyhenry, Cullenmore Bends, Ashford, Co Wicklow, admitted making gain or causing loss by deception.
Garda Mark Treanor told Balbriggan District Court that he was on patrol at Hamlet Lane in Balbriggan on April 2, 2024 when an individual approached him saying that he paid the defendant €80 to clean his gutters, but the work had not been done.
Gda Treanor said that he was speaking to the victim when a second person approached and said he had paid Connors €50 to clean his gutters, but again the work had not been done.
Gda Treanor said that he stopped the defendant in his van, where he was doing work on Main Street in Balbriggan.
Defence solicitor Carol Slattery said there had been an “element of misunderstanding” with the victims in relation to when the work would be done but Connors, a father of six, was taking full responsibility for what had happened.
Ms Slattery said this was not a sophisticated crime and she asked the judge to be lenient.
She said Connors was stopped on the day and the money seized by gardaí so it could be returned to the injured parties.