Cork woman on trial for deception feared for her and her children’s lives after harassment
The 47-year-old Buttevant native left the Waterford town after the incident in September 2019, during which, she said, men had been shouting through her letterbox and rattling her side gate before sending her a WhatsApp video message ‘demanding’ thousands of euro.
Cork woman Catherine O’Brien has told her trial for deception charges of her fears for both her and her children’s lives after harassment at her Dungarvan home.
The 47-year-old Buttevant native left the Waterford town after the incident in September 2019, during which, she said, men had been shouting through her letterbox and rattling her side gate before sending her a WhatsApp video message ‘demanding’ thousands of euro.
She referenced the incident when she was being cross-examined by counsel for the State, Conor O’Doherty, at Waterford Circuit Court on Friday.
Ms O’Brien is accused of deception charges related to a man called John Blake and the purchase, transport, and insurance of a French mare called Lingreville.
It is alleged that she “dishonestly by deception” induced Mr Blake to pay €20,000 to purchase the horse — which the State alleges was not purchased; to pay €1,100 insurance for the mare — which the State said was not paid; and €984 to transport the horse from France to Ireland — which the State says was not transported as alleged.
Ms O’Brien, of An Grianan, Ballinroad, Dungarvan, Co Waterford, has pleaded not guilty to the three charges of making gain or causing loss by deception contrary to Section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.
During the seventh day of the trial, Ms O’Brien said of the incident at her home: “It was a horrible, scary event. My life was threatened. My children’s lives were threatened.
“I was not comfortable in Dungarvan.”
She responded to questions by Mr O’Doherty about her whereabouts from September 2021 — when the DPP had directed that she be charged —
until her arrest in June 2024.
She said she spent time outside the jurisdiction in Newry “foaling mares”, as well as in Louth and Meath.
She added: “I was back in Dungarvan in May 2021 for at least a week. I went to Cork after that to my daughter’s graduation.”
She also said she had spent around a week in France.
Mr O’Doherty queried whether she was aware that she was wanted by gardaí in relation to the case before the court.
She said she had read a report in the in 2023 saying that she was sought by gardaí but said she “took it with a pinch of salt” at the time.
She said she was regularly receiving any mail sent to her home in Dungarvan and did not receive anything “to say I was wanted by anybody”.
She also said she was unaware there were court proceedings relating to the complaint she had made regarding the September 2019 incident at her home.
She said her solicitor, Ray Kavanagh, had not contacted her to say she was being sought for it.
She added: “I would have turned up if I had known.”
She accepted that her arrest in Meath in June 2024 was not by arrangement.
During cross-examination, the court heard that a phone number used by the accused had also been linked to communications with Wetherbys and Five Star Bloodstock by women called Kate Egan and Amy Power, respectively.
Mr O’Doherty asked Ms O’Brien who these women were and if Amy Power was a fake name she had used, to which she replied: “I do not accept that.”
The trial is being presided over by Judge Eugene O’Kelly and is being heard by a jury of seven women and five men.
It will continue on Tuesday.
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