Offaly woman (97) gave €500 to 'painter' guilty of 'despicable crime'

A MAN has been jailed for 15 months for 'despicable' dishonesty where he duped a 97-year-old woman into giving him €500 for a painting job.

Martin Wall (23), Glasnarget, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow had previously pleaded guilty to inducing Edenderry woman Frances Byrne, who will turn 99 in October, to paying him the money in advance by false representation.

Judge Ronan Munro heard that Mrs Byrne had booked painters for her house but came upon Mr Wall and another man by chance and they led her to believe they were the actual painters and got access to her house.

During a sentencing hearing on Tuesday at Tullamore Circuit Court, Detective Garda Joseph Bradley outlined how a call was received on June 26 last year in relation to what had happened at Frances Byrne's home on Windsor Terrace in Edenderry.

In a statement, she told gardai she had a man doing hedge cutting on that day and left her house to go to an ATM machine to get cash but discovered it was empty.

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As she was leaving Mangan's shop she met two men in the forecourt and CCTV footage was played in court which showed her speaking to the driver of a 2011 Monaghan registered white van.

She was led to believe the two males in the van were the people she had booked to paint the house and they told her they needed €500.

The court heard she went to the bank and took out €600 and paid the men €500.

They went to the Eden Decor hardware store in the town and bought some paint and painted a door and some skirting board in the house.

They gave their names as “Dylan” and “Darren”, with “Darren” being the “father” and the younger man, who wore glasses, said he was “Dylan”.

Martin Wall was wearing glasses and dressed in a three-piece suit when he appeared in custody in court.

Later Mrs Byrne discovered that a number of rings were missing from upstairs in her house and the court was told while Mr Wall had initially been charged with the theft of four rings, that charge was dropped by the prosecution.

Judge Munro heard Mr Wall had travelled to Melbourne, Australia on August 5 last year but was refused entry to the country, returned home, and was arrested at Dublin Airport.

Gardai had linked the van seen on CCTV with Mr Wall through its registration number.

The accused was detained at Tullamore Garda Station and exercised his right to silence.

Neither Mr Wall nor the other man were ever seen again by Mrs Byrne after painting the door.

Replying to Shane Geraghty, BL, prosecuting (instructed by Sandra Mahon, Offaly state solicitor), Detective Garda Bradley said Mr Wall had 75 previous convictions, including 13 for burglary and 38 for theft and some were from when he was a juvenile.

In a victim impact statement which was read in court by the garda, Mrs Byrne, now aged 98, said her life had changed quite a lot since June 2025.

She said she still lived in her own home and always enjoyed an independent, active life but was now very nervous about leaving the house.

Within days of the incident she fell in her bedroom and was in hospital and a convalescent home afterwards. She said she missed her daily walks and the loss of her engagement and wedding rings which were given to her by her husband in 1949 were a daily reminder of what had happened.

Colm Hennessy, BL, defending, said the accused was absolutely ashamed of himself and had been in custody since his arrest.

Now aged 23, he married at 18, was a father of two and his wife was in court. Mr Hennessy said the accused had been diagnosed with ADHD and had a troubled upbringing but was from a proud Traveller background.

His wife and children were living in supported accommodation in Tallaght and she wanted to get her husband home as soon as possible.

Mr Hennessy added that Mr Wall had received treatment for drug addiction in prison and was now clear of drugs.

Defence counsel said it was a serious matter when an elderly person was targeted and it was clear that Mrs Byrne was vulnerable and completely taken in by people she trusted.

The court heard Mr Wall's companion had not been prosecuted and was at large.

Mr Hennessy said the offence was isolated and singular in nature and Mr Wall had pleaded guilty as early as possible.

As a gesture of goodwill and expression of his remorse, he had brought €1,000 to court to be handed over to the victim.

Mrs Byrne was not in court but her daughter Ella O'Brien and granddaughter Jean O'Brien were present and indicated that the €1,000 would be accepted and probably donated to the Society of St Vincent de Paul.

Judge Munro said it was “hard not to feel a sense of outrage” and he deferred sentencing to today (Wednesday, April 15).

Imposing the sentence, he recalled seeing Mrs Byrne on CCTV and said what struck him was that she did not look like a woman in her mid 90s and was obviously very independent, engaging, trusting and warm.

It seemed to him the two men were “on the look-out” when they engaged her outside the shop and were “scanning the horizon for a victim”.

He said that doing some painting provided a sort of a cover for them. “It seems to me to be part of the scheme,” the judge remarked.

While he agreed the accused did not have a good start in life, it was depressing that he was “an accomplished thief” by a young age and at only 12 was involved in burglary.

He had been in and out of prison since his early teens and had committed further offences since 2022 when he had children.

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He had 26 offences committed by the age of 15 and also had a problem with the authorities in the North “and will have to go up there after this”.

He accepted being in prison and missing his family was difficult but said: “Due to his actions he has separated himself from his wife and his children.”

The judge spoke of the impact on Mrs Byrne, saying she had been punished for being trusting and was the sort of woman who would give someone a cup of tea if they called to her house.

“You robbed her of something, not just €500, but her peace of mind,” he told Mr Wall.

Mr Wall and his companion had actively preyed on the victim and he could not think of a worse offence of its kind, stating the accused had invaded the woman's house and did “half painting to cover your tracks.”

He said: “In my view it's a despicable crime.”

The maximum penalty for the offence is five years and he set the headline sentence at three years, which after mitigation, he reduced to two-and-a-half years.

He suspended 15 months of that and backdated the sentence to August 8 last year when Mr Wall went into custody.

The final 15 months is suspended for four years on condition the man keeps the peace and is of good behaviour.

He told Ella and Jean O'Brien to tell Mrs Byrne: “Not only has she brought this man to justice, she has also made the world a safer place. He'll be less likely to do it to somebody in the future.”

Before he was led away from the courtroom Mr Wall apologised to Mrs Byrne and her family.