THE mother of a young man accused of being involved in a phishing scam and drug dealing made an impassioned plea before Galway District Court for her son to be spared a prison sentence and allowed to return to Australia where he was doing well.
However, Judge John King said the charges he faced were way too serious for such leniency and remanded the defendant in custody until heavy cash bail conditions could be met.
The mother pleaded that she could come up with the money, but it might take days as her bank would not be able to provide her with up to €9,000 late on Monday afternoon, but the Judge insisted that he would not ease the conditions he set.
Judge King fixed recognisances in case of an appeal of the six-month prison sentence he handed down at €5,000 for the defendant, €3,000 in cash and in addition an independent surety of €4,000 of which €2,000 was to be in cash.
Before the Court was Brian Browne (24 ) of 8, The Paddocks, Racecourse Rd, Roscommon. On February 12, 2024 Gardaí found him in possession of the drug ecstasy valued at €700 and he admitted dealing, but insisted only to friends.
On November 22 he allowed his An Post account to be used in a phishing scam in which €2,300 was taken from a victim’s account. A third party removed €600 for this account as part of the scam. The bank involved refunded the victim the €2,300 but were at a loss of the €600.
His solicitor pleaded that his client was working and living in Australia and had not come to the attention of the police there. He ran his own carpentry business and had €600 in Court in compensation. He had made contact with the fraudsters involved via Snapchat and was pleading guilty to all charges. He was in a relationship and would like to return to Australia.
“I’m sure he would but these are serious matters,” the Judge said. “He has a well-paid trade and still got involved in dealing and a money scam,” he added.
Browne’s mother, Narzanna Browne, was sworn in. She pleaded for leniency, saying her oldest son was easily led and his actions were out of character and asked Judge King to give him a chance.
However, the Judge said there was a definite history of criminality here and people had to take responsibility for themselves.
He acknowledged the guilty plea but said that was because he was caught “red-handed”. He imposed a two-month prison sentence for the phishing scam and an additional four months for drug dealing.
Fixing recognisances totalling €9,000 the Judge warned the mother that if her son left the jurisdiction she would forfeit her bond. He added that the defendant was now a flight risk so had to surrender his passport immediately and sign on at his local Gardaí station each day.
