A garden landscaper who stole money from clients after agreeing to do work for them has been jailed for two years.
Gavin Smith, also known as Gavin Smith Prendergast, took on too many jobs and was dealing with a cocaine addiction when he stole from four clients on dates between May and October 2022, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.
One of his victims was an 87-year-old woman who was trying to do up her garden so her husband, who had cancer, could enjoy it, the court heard.
Smith (33), with an address at Huntstown Wood, Huntstown, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty to four counts of theft.
He has four previous convictions and was given a suspended 21-month sentence in January 2022 for committing a similar offence.
On Tuesday, Judge Martin Nolan said Smith put his victims through a great degree of inconvenience and trauma. He noted each of the complainants spent a long time trying to get their money back from Smith to no avail.
He accepted Smith was struggling with addiction at the time but noted: “He made his problems their problems”.
He said a custodial sentence in the case was unavoidable, given that Smith had previously been given a chance through the previous suspended sentence. He handed down a sentence of two years.
Garda Elaine Commins told Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, that gardaí were contacted by a number of people in relation to monies they had paid to Smith for garden landscaping work that was never carried out.
In August 2022, a woman paid Smith €4,400 and a man paid him €3,150 for two garden landscaping jobs that were never done.
In October 2022, a woman paid Smith €2,500 and in November 2022, an elderly woman paid him €5,000 to landscape her garden.
The court heard that the 87-year-old woman who paid Smith €5,000 was recommended to him by her daughter-in-law after he did a job for her which she was happy with.
Each of Smith's customers spent weeks and months trying to get him to either do the work or give them their money back. None of the monies have been repaid, the court heard. Smith spent about half a day working on the older woman's garden, but never returned.
Victim impact statements were handed into court, but not read out.
When arrested by gardaí, Smith made immediate admissions. He told gardaí he had taken on too many jobs and was struggling to pay two people who worked for him. The court heard he was addicted to cocaine at the time.
Simon Matthews BL, defending, said this was not a case where Smith was posing as a landscaper, and that he did run his own business.
He said it was a case where Smith was planning on doing the work he had been paid for, but that he was living a hectic life at the time.
He said Smith has since come clean of drugs and is now working for someone else. He is extremely remorseful for his actions, the court heard.
