Fraudster Catherine O’Brien sentenced for scamming elderly man out of €22k over fake horse
Catherine O'Brien (pictured). File picture: Dan Linehan
Convicted fraudster Catherine O’Brien has received a 25-month sentence for dishonestly inducing an elderly man to part with €22,000.
O'Brien, of An Grianan, Ballinroad, Dungarvan, Co Waterford, dishonestly induced John Blake into paying her €20,000 to purchase a horse named Lingreville, €1,100 for insurance, and €984 to transport the horse from France to Ireland.
O’Brien cajoled and manipulated her victim into parting with his life savings to pay for the fictional horse, its transport, and insurance.
During a three-week trial in July, evidence showed that the broodmare Lingreville had never been purchased or entered Ireland. The jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts in just under 40 minutes.
O’Brien first met Mr Blake in late 2017 through the dating website ‘Plenty of Fish’ and presented herself as a successful and highly regarded equine industry expert. When he first met O’Brien, he was seeking companionship.
In March 2018, she encouraged him to pay €20,000 for the “breeding rights” of a stallion she claimed to own, named Shakeel. Soon afterwards, she suggested he buy a broodmare from France to maximise his investment in the stallion.
This began a series of lies that left Mr Blake without his life savings. He took out a €14,000 Credit Union loan to pay for the “horse,” a loan he had to repay. In total, he gave O’Brien just over €42,200 during their correspondence.
O’Brien sent him pictures purporting to be his horse and foal throughout the year, and blocked any attempts he made to see the horse.
Mr Blake discovered the lie in September 2019 when he visited John Walsh’s home in Lismore and was told by his wife that no horse named Lingreville existed.
O’Brien was charged by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in September 2021.
In October 2021, O’Brien and Mr Walsh paid Mr Blake €22,000 in a settlement.
On Wednesday, January 14, O’Brien appeared at Waterford Circuit Court via video link from Limerick Prison.
She appeared before Judge Eugene O’Kelly, who oversaw her trial last July. O’Brien was seen sitting in a wheelchair and accompanied by a male nurse. She made several wincing gestures during the appearance. The court heard from her legal counsel, Ronan O’Carroll BL, that she wished to be sentenced in the absence of a medical report.
Detective Garda Joe Wyse outlined the case to State Prosecutor Dylan Redmond BL. Det Wyse read the victim’s impact statement, as Mr Blake was too ill to attend court in person.
In the statement, Mr Blake described how the fraud left him feeling traumatised, embarrassed, scared, and isolated.
He began:“I am not a man of financial means. I am 69 years old. At age 44 I lost my wife to cancer, she was 41. I worked part-time to raise my five children. At age 60 I was diagnosed with bowel cancer, at 62 I had a stroke and at 64 I was diagnosed with stomach cancer.”
He detailed experiencing all these health crises while dealing with the financial and emotional fallout of the fraud: “I had to pick up work and at 68 I was diagnosed with prostrate cancer.”
He said the trauma of the deceit had stolen years from his life, his health, and his time with his children. He wrote about struggling to tell his children about the deceit, his anxieties, and his sleep difficulties: “This seven year ordeal has traumatized me.”
Mr O’Carroll told the court that O’Brien maintains her innocence and claims the matter was a “mistake,” but expressed that she bore “no ill will” towards Mr Blake.
The court heard that O’Brien had a lonely childhood in Cork. She had a brief academic career in legal studies but gave it up after having her eldest daughter. She was described as being “self-employed” for a number of years, setting up various short-lived businesses. Mr O’Carroll said she has two adult daughters, with whom she has a “strained relationship” due to her legal issues.
In 1999, she was charged with making a false report to Gardaí relating to a “missing car” in Kanturk, Co Cork. Mr O’Carroll noted this should be considered an “unblemished record” due to the age of the conviction, which was accepted by Judge O’Kelly.
According to Mr O’Carroll, O’Brien has a low risk of re-offending and intends to work in the equestrian industry post-release. He said her “dreams” of working in farming were “scuppered by her health issues.”
Judge O’Kelly reiterated how O’Brien presented the scam as a “zero-risk” investment to her victim. He described her as taking advantage of an elderly man, leaving him “vulnerable, embarrassed, and ashamed.”
Judge O’Kelly sentenced her to 20 months for the first count of fraud, and five months for the latter charges. The first two charges are to run concurrently, while the third will be served consecutively due to the time range. The sentence was backdated to July 2025.
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