Painter Patrick Skipton jailed for seven years after demanding money and harassing acquaintance

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Patrick Skipton, 42, was sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to nine years in prison, with the final two years suspended on conditions. He came before the court on signed pleas to two counts of demanding money with menace and one count of harassment of the same victim. The proceedings were reported on 16 December 2025.

The first demand occurred between 1 January and 10 April 2021. Garda Shane Kennedy told the court that the victim had been holding about €47,000 for Skipton and had spent it on drugs during the pandemic. With help from his brother and father, the victim paid Skipton €50,000 in April 2021; some of his father's pension funds were used.

The second demand and the harassment occurred between 7 April and 1 May 2025. The court heard that the victim, who had previously been addicted to cocaine, was then clean, working and owed nobody money. Skipton contacted him through his boss and demanded a further €40,000. The victim was pressured to sell his car and seek a larger bank loan. He alerted gardaí before a planned handover of the loan money, and Skipton’s associate was arrested at the meeting.

Judge Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin said the victim impact statement described how Skipton inflicted “a reign of terror” on the victim.