'Rogue' who sold fake Electric Picnic tickets to unsuspecting victim avoids jail
Sean Carroll (31) with an address at Tara Hill Crescent, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, pleaded guilty in the District Court to theft contrary to section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.
The court heard that on July 26, 2019, Carroll arranged through Facebook to meet a man on Henry Street in Dublin, where the injured party handed over €550 for tickets to the music festival Electric Picnic. These tickets turned out to be fake and the stolen money was never recovered.
Carroll has 28 previous convictions, including those for theft and attempted robbery.
Defence counsel for Carroll, Róisín Burnside BL, told the District Court Appeals Court that her client has undertaken treatment for drug addiction and is now free of drugs and alcohol.
Judge Jonathan Dunphy noted that 'Henry Street seems to be full of people selling Longitude tickets'. He asked if the defendant understood how long the injured party would have had to save up for the tickets, only for the money to go to 'some rogue'.
Judge Dunphy decided to increase the original sentence from six months to ten months, but fully suspended it for two years on the condition that Carroll keeps the peace and continues with his treatment.
"If he comes back before me, I'll activate every second of that ten months," Judge Dunphy said.
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