A “psychic medium” was described by a judge as “an old-fashioned confidence trickster” as she was jailed for a year for convincing a man to give her €10,000 by telling him his deceased father had told her that if he did not, the devil would take his soul.
Debbie Paget (55), of Knowth Court, Ballymun, was convicted by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury in May after pleading not guilty to dishonestly inducing by deception James Byrne to give her €10,000. She was also charged with dishonestly inducing by deception Mr Byrne’s sister, Maria Byrne, to give her €200.
After deliberating for around four hours, the jury found Paget guilty, by a majority, of the first count and returned a not-guilty verdict on the second.
In his evidence during the trial, Mr Byrne told Oisín Clarke BL, prosecuting, that he, Maria and their mother lived together in Cabra. He said they all got to know Paget while she was caring for a neighbour.
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He said Paget on one occasion invited him to “a reading” and he thought this was a fortune telling and he would find out about his future. He said Paget started talking about his father during the session and then told him: “Your father said you are to give me €10,000.”
Pressurised
He said that he felt pressurised and gave his word to give her the money. He said Paget told him, “If you don’t, it will be a sin and the devil will get you.” He said he later gave her €10,000 cash after withdrawing it from his bank account.
Asked why he gave her the money, Mr Byrne told the jury: “I believed my father told her to tell me to give her the money, that’s what I believed.”
When questioned, Paget told gardaí that she was known as a “psychic medium”, which meant that she could communicate with the dead. She said she had offered this service to people for 40 years and had “never charged a penny” for it.
She denied doing “a reading” for the complainants and denied receiving or asking for money from either of them. She said she had no idea why either of them would lie.
‘Learned a lesson’
In his victim impact statement, Mr Byrne said he was very depressed after the incident and has had sleepless nights. He said he was very upset about his father’s death and thought Paget was “a decent person”.
“I know now that she is not. I was taken advantage of. She said my Dad would tip me on the shoulder and she said it would be a sin on my soul and I would go to hell if I didn’t give her the money,” he said. “I am not a victim. I am a survivor and I felt I have learned a lesson. I am proud of myself having the courage to come here today.”
Karl Monahan BL, defending, said that his client had a horrible family life, had witnessed domestic violence and had “a cruel and sadistic” mother. She ultimately ran away from home when she was 14 and stayed in a shelter for young girls until she was 17. He said her daughter died of cystic fibrosis aged eight and Paget had previously been addicted to methadone.
Some of her family members have distanced themselves from her since her case went to court and she has lost contact with some of her grandchildren, he said.
‘Cunning and manipulative’
Judge Pauline Codd said it was quite clear from Mr Byrne’s demeanour in court that he is a vulnerable person. She said Paget was criminally liable as she had taken large sums of money under threat, “even though those are supernatural threats”. The judge described the offence as “cunning and manipulative” and said Paget had “taken advantage” of Mr Byrne.
“Needless to say, her objective was far more worldly in nature, to enrich herself by manipulating a vulnerable man whose buttons she knew how to press,” Judge Codd said, describing Paget as “an old-fashioned confidence trickster”.
The judge said there was no expression of remorse or attempt to pay back the money, but she acknowledged that Paget had “particular vulnerabilities”. She sentenced Paget to 18 months in prison and suspended the final six months on strict conditions.