Catherine O'Brien a devious liar who preyed on a vulnerable man, deception trial jury told

Catherine O’Brien has pleaded not guilty to three charges of deception regarding the purchase, transport and insurance of a French horse. Picture: Dan Linehan

The prosecution has claimed the deception case against Catherine O’Brien showed her as a devious liar who had preyed on a vulnerable man.

Prosecution counsel Conor O’Doherty made the claim in his closing speech on Wednesday in the trial of the 47-year-old, who is accused of deception relating to the purchase, transport, and insurance of a French mare called Lingreville.

The jury went out to start their deliberations at 3.49pm on Wednesday afternoon.

It is alleged Ms O’Brien “dishonestly by deception” induced Dubliner John 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 says was not paid; and €984 to transport the horse from France to Ireland — which the State says was not transported.

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.

On Wednesday morning in Waterford Circuit Court, Mr O’Doherty told the jury Mr Blake had been drawn in to a “well of deceit” by Ms O’Brien. 

He referenced a settlement document which was signed by Mr Blake, Ms O’Brien and Ms O’Brien’s business associate John Walsh, of Bishopstown Stud, Lismore, Co Waterford, on October 14, 2021. 

The document outlined the horse purchased by Mr Blake was a brood mare called Shamalana, which had been “incorrectly named in purchase negotiations with Mr Blake as Lingreville” and he would receive €22,000, which was paid to him the following day.

Mr O’Doherty said if the condition for Mr Blake getting €22,000 back “was to say he stole Shergar, I think he would have signed it". He said Ms O’Brien’s evidence and that of defence witness John Walsh did not tally with each other. He also said there were no documents produced in court by Ms O’Brien to support her evidence.

He alleged the accused and a woman called Amy Power were both using a mobile phone number, which the accused admitted to gardaí in 2019 was her number.

Mr O’Doherty said “Catherine O’Brien was using an alias, using a false name”.

He added Mr Blake was a deeply religious man who was “being constantly preyed upon” by Ms O’Brien.

Addressing the jury, Mr O’Doherty said: “John Blake had complete faith in her and Catherine O’Brien knew that and manipulated that to her own gain.” 

Defence counsel Simon Donagh, however, told the jury that “in a nutshell, the defence case is that there was no deception, it was a mistake”.

He continued: “Yes, Lingreville did feature on a text message. It was a mistake”.

He told them while they may not accept everything she or defence witness John Walsh said, their decision must be “beyond all reasonable doubt”.

He added: “Yes, money went from Mr Blake to the bank account of Ms O’Brien. That does not mean that that was done dishonestly.” 

Mr Donagh said Mr Blake signed the settlement document “voluntarily and following legal advice”.

Mr Donagh said the jury had an incomplete picture of the communications between Mr Blake and Ms O’Brien because “none of Mr Blake’s two phones were properly analysed”.