Cork woman, 88, 'shaking all the time' after man tricked her out of money to do work on her home

Defendant also conned 90-year-old man out of €100 and a third victim out of €300 cash, court heard

Defendant pleaded guilty to conning victims out of money and to several counts of driving off from garages without paying for diesel for his van, and failing to appear in court. Picture: Larry Cummins

“I am just shaking all the time now,” an 88-year-old woman said after being tricked out of money at her front door by a man pretending to be doing work for her at her home in Douglas.

42-year-old Jerry O’Sullivan, of 7 Hazelwood Grove, Kinsale Road, Cork, pleaded guilty to deception of the elderly woman, and to carrying out a similar con on a 90-year-old man at his home.

Both victims gave victim impact statements, which were read out at Cork District Court by Sergeant Gearóid Davis.

The 88-year-old woman with an address in Douglas said: “On March 28, 2026, a man came to my house and took €350 from me and left without doing any work. The same man returned a few days later and tried to get more money off me to do more work. He stayed and tried to coax money out of me.

“Since the day this man arrived, I have been locking the doors all the time and I am afraid to answer the door. I am 88 years old and I am scared around the house. I am just shaking all the time now.

“I am looking out the window when the doorbell rings out of fear. This incident has very much affected me.” 

The 90-year-old man, who was also deceived by Jerry O’Sullivan at his home in Douglas, said: “On February 21, 2026, I was tricked into giving €100 to a man who said he would do work on my house. After this happened, I realised that the same man had tried to trick me out of money previously.

“I now know. I was way too trusting. I feel after this that I will not be able to trust anyone as much. As he came in over my gate in the past, I would be concerned that he would return. I will have to get more CCTV. I should not have to worry about things like this at 90 years old.” 

There was a third victim of Jerry O’Sullivan who did not give a victim impact statement. Sgt Davis gave similar evidence of this offence, which saw an elderly man being duped into paying €300 cash to Jerry O’Sullivan for work which was requested in the first place and which was not done at all.

Shane Collins-Daly, solicitor, said the 42-year-old was pleading guilty to all of these offences and to several counts of driving off from garages without paying for diesel for his van, and failing to appear in court.

“He has a serious addiction to alcohol and cocaine. He commits these offences to pay for his intoxicants,” Mr Collins-Daly said.

The solicitor said family members want Jerry O’Sullivan to get help for his addictions, which were causing him to commit these mean-spirited and nasty offences, of which society and the courts take a dim view. He said family members had gathered compensation for the injured parties.

For failing to appear in court and for the drive-off offences, the judge imposed a total sentence of four months but adjourned sentencing on the more serious deception crimes until April 23.