Fraud-accused woman claims she was ‘unaware’ gardaí were looking for her, trial hears
Catherine O'Brien, An Grianan, Ballinroad, Dungarvan, at Waterford Circuit Court where she has pleaded not guilty to three charges of deception regarding the purchase, transport and insurance of a French horse. Photo: Dan Linehan
The trial of fraud-accused Catherine O’Brien went into its seventh day at Waterford Circuit Court on Friday.
Ms O’Brien (47), of An Grianan, Ballinrud, Dungarvan, was cross-examined by State Prosecutor Conor O’Doherty before the jury of seven women and five men. She is charged with three counts of making gain or causing loss by deception contrary to Section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 against complainant John Blake.
She repeatedly rejected any claim that she had lied or deceived complainant Mr Blake into paying her thousands of euros for a "fictitious broodmare".
The court heard that since 2008 she has acted as carer, on an "on and off" basis, to her uncle Edmund Hawe.
In September 2021, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) charged Ms O’Brien on three charges of deception.
Ms O’Brien told the court that she was unaware of any attempts by Gardaí to arrest her on these charges.
She said to the court that she had read an article in the Irish Examiner in 2023 about her being "sought by Gardaí" but “took it with a pinch of salt because it’s a newspaper”.
She said that her solicitor Ray Kavanagh did not make contact with her to inform her about the Gardaí looking for her.
“My solicitor did not contact me.”
In June 2024, she was apprehended and arrested by Gardaí in Slane while driving a car owned by a man named Karl Leavy. She said in court: “I wasn’t avoiding Gardaí.”
She said she left the jurisdiction because she "wasn’t comfortable" living in Dungarvan after a purported harassment incident.
She said: “This was a horrible, scary event in my life, my life was threatened, my children’s lives were threatened.”
Over the years since the incident, she claimed to have worked in foaling in Newry, Co. Down, Co. Louth and Co. Meath, and visited Waterford and Cork.
Prosecution went over the messages shared between the accused and the complainant.
Mr O’Doherty drew attention to a message where she claimed to have sold five mares for €300,000. The defendant claimed that she was acting as an agent for a number of investors. She declined to name the investors, telling Mr O’Doherty: “I can’t remember, this was seven years ago.”
She maintained that she was working under the instruction of John Walsh but when pressed for evidence and documents, she said she didn’t have them available.
Mr O’Doherty asked about the 13 and a half months-long gestation period for Shamalana’s foal. Ms O’Brien said that the foal is now a horse and is "very much on the ground", living on Bishopstown Stud with Mr Walsh.
Mr O’Doherty repeatedly asked about the true owner of the stallion Shakeel. Ms O’Brien gave conflicting answers about the owners, at one point saying the owner was defence witness John Walsh, their unregistered company Classic Thoroughbreds and Eclipse Penumbra Holding Ltd.
Mr O’Doherty asked how her alleged friend and barrister Michael Egan fitted in the equation.
Ms O’Brien said: “He used the stallion on some of his own broodmares.”
Mr O’Doherty said: “So there were three of you?”
She replied: “He [Mr Egan] was involved in the promotion but he didn’t own it.”
She claimed that he was the "frontperson" for the stallion and she has "no experience in standing a stallion".
Mr O’Doherty responded: “You were holding yourself as an expert in this area, you sourced this horse.”
Later in proceedings, Mr O’Doherty asked if the stallion had produced any winners. The court heard that one of Shakeel’s progeny had placed in a race in Slovakia. Ms O’Brien said that the breeding rights on the stallion were still valuable despite the lack of winners produced.
The jury heard about an "incident in Wexford" that Ms O’Brien had earlier alluded to. According to Ms O’Brien, John Walsh brought the mares from Kinnegad to a stable farm in Wexford in spring 2019. She attended to the farm during the month of April but told Mr Walsh that she couldn’t travel from Dungarvan anymore because she had two children.
She told the court that during that time Mr Walsh had a "mental breakdown" after a foal and a mare died on the farm. She said: “He was in a bad way.”
In June 2019, she purportedly received a phone call from the Irish Horse Welfare Trust. The Trust visited the farm and took the horses into care after a veterinary check. Ms O’Brien called the incident "traumatic".
Mr O’Doherty put it to Ms O’Brien that she inflated the value of the stallion to entice Mr Blake into purchasing the breeding rights. She rejected the claim and said that it was up to Mr Blake to "manage his investment" and that it was "unfair" to say that he had bought the rights, or the broodmare, based on what they spoke about.
Mr O’Doherty asked if Mr Blake ever received the "guaranteed" €7,000 for the breeding rights. Ms O’Brien said no. She said: “John Blake made his own decision, that was his own choice."
Mr O’Doherty responded: “He did it because you convinced him to do it.”
The trial continues next Tuesday, July 15.
