Fire safety fraudster who targeted farmers and rural businesses jailed

A man who who deceived and stole from farmers and rural businesses on the pretext of selling fire safety equipment has been sent to prison.

Trevor O’Brien (50), of Knocks, Lyre, Clonakilty, Co Cork, appeared before Judge Fiona Brennan at Macroom District Court where he faced three charges under the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001.

Mr O’Brien was charged with one count of theft and two counts of making gain or causing loss by deception relating to three separate incidents.

Court presenter Inspector Anthony Harrington said that the alleged incidents all followed a similar pattern of goods being promised and not delivered, plus excessive prices being charged.

Farm fire extinguishers

Giving evidence, 79-year-old farmer Patrick Finn from Kilcummin near Killarney, Co Kerry, told the court that Trevor O’Brien arrived unannounced at his farm on 17 November 2023 asking if he wanted to buy fire extinguishers and smoke alarms.

Mr Finn said that he had been anxious to change some of his old fire extinguishers and he agreed to buy three fire extinguishers from Mr O’Brien, as well as four new smoke alarms and one carbon monoxide alarm for his house.

Mr Finn said that he agreed to purchase the goods for €1,487 and paid Mr O’Brien by debit card via a Sum Up portable card reader that Mr O’Brien had with him.

Mr Finn said he then rang his son and told him about the purchase and his son told him that he had been overcharged.

Mr Finn said that he only received one fire extinguisher from Mr O’Brien and the smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarm were never delivered.

He said that he had repeatedly tried to contact Mr O’Brien and had told him he wanted his money back, but Mr O’Brien did not refund the money.

No smoke alarms delivered

Sean Kelleher, a farmer from Lissacresig, Macroom, Co Cork, told the court that Trevor O’Brien called to his farmyard on 11 October 2023 offering to sell fire safety equipment.

Mr Kelleher said that he asked Mr O’Brien for a cost estimate for three fire extinguishers, two smoke alarms and two carbon monoxide alarms. He said that he did not agree a price with Mr O’Brien, but he did provide him with his card details.

He said that he had forgotten about it until close to Christmas when three fire extinguishers were delivered to the farm while he was on his honeymoon and he discovered that €730 had been taken from his account without his consent.

Mr Kelleher said that no smoke alarms were delivered and he tried repeatedly to contact Mr O’Brien to get his money back and return the goods.

Shopkeeper Denis White of the Bridge Shop, Toonsbrigde, Macroom, told the court that Trevor O’Brien arrived at his shop just before noon on 27 May 2024.

He said that Mr O’Brien showed him an identification badge and claimed to be from the company that had installed his fire alarm and extinguishers.

Mr White said that Mr O’Brien claimed he was checking the fire safety equipment and held an extinguisher next to his ear and shook it.

He told Mr White that three of his fire extinguishers needed replacing and took them away, leaving three new ones at the shop.

He also said he would provide two new smoke alarms and two new carbon monoxide alarms, but they were never delivered. Mr White said that he had paid €425 by card for the goods.

Prices double

The court heard evidence from two experts in the fire safety field - Tony Corcoran and Robert Thompson. Both gave evidence that the prices being charged by Mr O’Brien were significantly above the norm and in some cases more than double what would be expected.

They said that prices for fire extinguishers varied by type from approximately €40 to €95, while smoke and carbon monoxide alarms would typically cost less than €50.

Mr Thompson said that it would be very unusual for a reputable company not to provide the goods at the time of payment.

Trevor O’Brien told the court he had been in the fire safety business for 32 years. He said that he charged €160 for a fire extinguisher, €90 for a smoke alarm and €89 for a carbon monoxide alarm.

He said that nobody was forced to buy from him and that his prices may be higher because he did not deal in large quantities like some of the bigger providers in the market.

He claimed that in all three cases he was unable to contact the customers to install the smoke alarms and would only do so while they were present.

He claimed that he had delivered four extinguishers to Mr Finn on the day he called and that Mr Kelleher had agreed a price with him.

He said that he had called to Mr White’s shop to install the smoke alarms, but left when he saw he was not behind the counter.

'Targeted an elderly farmer'

Inspector Harrington put it to Mr O’Brien that he never had any intention of delivering any of the smoke alarms and said that in the case of Mr Finn, he had targeted an elderly farmer.

He said that Mr O’Brien had made no effort to refund any of the injured parties.

The court heard that Mr O’Brien was convicted of theft in Waterford District Court on 26 November 2024 where he was given a six-month suspended sentence.

Judge Brennan said that Mr O’Brien’s evidence was self-serving and contradictory. She said that she was satisfied that all of the other witnesses were honest and trustworthy and she commended the gardai for the investigation that had resulted in the prosecution.

Convicted

For the deception involving Mr Finn, Trevor O’Brien was convicted and sentenced to four months in prison.

For the theft charge relating to Mr Kelleher, he was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years.

For the deception relating to Mr White, he was convicted and sentenced to three months in prison, suspended for two years to run consecutively.

Recognisance in the event of an appeal was fixed in his own bond of €600 cash.