Man who defrauded Done Deal buyer receives suspended jail sentence at Mayo court

A CORK man who posed as a seller on Done Deal and pocketed payment for a phone that never existed has received a six-month suspended sentence at Castlebar District Court.

Adam Ryan, 14 James Street, Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud arising from an incident in October 2022.

Sergeant Fiona Farrell told the court that on October 14, 2022, a man contacted gardaí to report that he had been the victim of an online fraud.

The victim believed he was purchasing a phone through a legitimate Done Deal advertisement and was given an Eircode to meet the seller.

When he travelled to the location, the person at the address had no knowledge of the advertisement or any sale. The victim had already paid via Revolut.

Defence solicitor Gary Mulchrone told Judge Vincent Deane that Ryan had struggled with addiction issues at the time and had seen an opportunity to make money.

He said Ryan had since attended Cluan Mhuire treatment centre in Limerick in April, had progressed to aftercare, and had attended an AA meeting at lunchtime on the day of the hearing at Castlebar District Court.

Mr. Mulchrone described his client as very young and said he was dedicated to his recovery.

Compensation had been furnished to the gardaí for the injured party from Ryan’s defence solicitor's office in Cork.

Judge Deane described the offence as a mean, thought-out and sneaky act, but said he was balancing that against the guilty plea and the fact that restitution had been made.

He imposed a six-month sentence, suspended for two years.

* Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.