Woman on trial for deception over purchase, transport and insurance of a French horse

A woman accused of deception charges claimed to have been threatened by several men at her home in Waterford.

Catherine O'Brien (47), of An Grianan, Ballinroad, Dungarvan, stands accused of three charges 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.

Mr Blake transferred €20,000 to the accused for the purchase, transport and insurance of a French broodmare named Lingreville.

Zero-risk

The parties first came into contact through the dating site Plenty o' Fish in late 2017 and began a regular correspondence.

The messages detail how Mr Blake came to invest €20,000 into the breeding rights of a stallion horse named Shakeel based in Ireland.

Ms O'Brien claimed to have bought the stallion in late 2017 from renowned breeder Aga Khan. In January 2018, she sent Mr Blake a picture of the thoroughbred.

Ms O'Brien told Mr Blake through Whatsapp that there was 'zero' risk for investing in the breeding rights of the stallion, promising a yearly return of €14,000, tax-free. She wrote: "I'd really love for ordinary people to do well in the equine industry."

Mr Blake wrote that the premise was "too good to be true". In the messages, Ms O'Brien claimed to want to "help people" experience and thrive in the equine industry: "Success should be shared."

Soon after he invested €20,000 of his savings into the breeding rights of Shakeel, Ms O'Brien broached the subject of buying a broodmare for the stallion.

She claimed to have found a mare named Lingreville from French blood agent Guy Petit. It was understood by Mr Blake that the mare would be brought to Ireland to be 'covered' by Shakeel.

The defence have alleged that the mare bought by Mr Blake was named Shamalana, not Lingreville, due to an error made in "good faith". Mr Blake rejects the claim.

On Thursday, July 3, three professionals from the equine industry gave evidence at the trial. 

Liz Lynch, of Five Star Bloodstock Transport, gave evidence via video link about the transporting of a mare. She confirmed the transport of a mare named Shamalana, not Lingreville.

International movements administrator at Weatherby’s Annette Doyle appeared in person to give testimony. She explained that Weatherby’s would have been informed about any transport of a thoroughbred to another country and that there was no record of Lingreville being brought to Ireland after 2015.

Defence barrister Simon Donagh BL asked all three witnesses if Gardaí had ever requested their phones as part of the investigation. They said no.

Bank account 

The trial continued before a jury of seven women and five men at Waterford Circuit Court on Friday, July 4.

Detective Garda Joe Wyse and State prosecutor Conor O’Doherty went through a number of financial documents related to a closed bank account that was opened in 2012 by Catherine O’Brien for her daughter Katie in an Ulster Bank branch in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. Documents revealed two transfers of €20,000 made by the complainant on February 21, 2018 and April 5, 2018, via SWIFT.

The account was closed on May 29 2019. Mr Donagh told Det. Wyse that the large sums of money taken out of the account were "given to John Walsh", referring to the man Mr Blake met through the accused. Det. Wyse said that he was not aware of that.

Mr Donagh then asked the detective if he was aware that the account was closed following a request by Gardaí. Det. Wyse said: “I have no evidence of that," and that he understood that the account holder was then based in Cork and closed the account for convenience.

Threats

Detective Garda Martin Keohane gave evidence via video link about an alleged incident that occurred on September 21, 2019. On that date, the accused claimed that several men had come to her house in Dungarvan, threatened her and demanded €46,000 from her.

Mr Donagh asked Det. Keohane if he was aware of any additional or video messages containing threats to Ms O’Brien and her home.

Detective Keohane confirmed that he had seen a video of a man wearing a balaclava sitting in the back seat of a car, purportedly outside of Ms O’Brien's home, asking for "money owed, the problem wasn’t going anywhere" and threatening to damage the house. Det. Keohane confirmed that there was no prosecution in the matter.

Mr O’Doherty noted that two people had been sent forward for trial in Circuit Court for several years but a nolle prosequi had to be recorded. Det. Keohane stated that Ms O’Brien "never came to court" over the case. He further stated that O’Brien "couldn’t be located" in Waterford for a "number of years".

Mr O’Doherty asked Det Wyse if there was any indication that a relative of Mr Blake was present at the alleged incident to which he said no.

Phone records 

Det Wyse told the Court that he had analysed Mr Blake’s phone on foot of his official statement.

He confirmed that he had photographed the messages between the accused and the complainant from the latter’s phone, an iPhone and a Samsung.

According to the Detective, in recent months attempts were made to forensically analyse the iPhone but there was a risk of deleting all evidence. When asked by the defence why the Samsung phone wasn’t taken away for analysis, Det. Wyse said: “Mr Blake is suffering from cancer, he lives alone and that was the only phone he has.” 

Mr Donagh queried why Mr Blake’s phones were analysed by the Detective but not the phones of witnesses Annette Doyle and Liz Lynch.

Det. Walsh said that the witnesses were "cooperative and compliant" and had signed a declaration that their statements were based in fact.

Mr Donagh stated: “The jury can’t be told to take this at face value,” to which Det Wyse replied: “I don’t accept that.” 

Mr Donagh said: “Well, Ms O’Brien says she’s not guilty, should we just take that at face value?" 

Det. Wyse retorted: “The evidence is different though, isn’t it?” 

Mr Donagh referenced an earlier claim that John Walsh offered to pay Mr Blake back €45,000 in three instalments of €15,000. Det. Wyse confirmed that Mr Blake told him that was a "possibility of getting his money back".

The jury were presented with a document that pertained to be a settlement dating from October 2021 between the accused, the complainant and John Walsh.

Defence counsel informed the court that they have called John Walsh as a witness and he is due to appear on Tuesday, July 8.

The trial continues.