Pearse O’Connor avoids jail for fraudulent trading and false instruments

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Pearse O’Connor avoided immediate imprisonment when the Court refused the Director of Public Prosecutions’ application to review sentences imposed in the Circuit Court in Dundalk. The proceedings were reported on 1 December 2023.

He was convicted of eight counts of using a false instrument and one count of fraudulent trading. On 13 January 2022, the sentences included five years’ imprisonment for the fraudulent trading count and one false-instrument count, and four years for four other false-instrument counts; the sentences were concurrent and fully suspended for five years.

The sentence also included a lifetime disqualification from acting as a company director or secretary. The defence position was that the offending arose from Company A’s financial difficulties and was intended to keep the company afloat, rather than provide personal gain.