A “psychic medium” has been jailed for a year after she got a man to give her €10,000 by telling him his deceased father had told her that if he did not give her the money “the devil would take his soul”, reports RTE.
Debbie Paget, 55, of Noth Court in Ballymun, Dublin, was found guilty by a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in May last year. One judge described him as “an old-fashioned confidence trickster”, reports RTE.
She pleaded not guilty to fraudulently soliciting James Byrne to pay €10,000 by fraud. He was also accused of fraudulently tricking Mr Byrne’s sister, Maria Byrne, into paying him €200.
After deliberating for just over four hours, the jury found Paget guilty on the first count by a majority and returned a verdict acquitting him on the second count.
In his testimony at the trial, James Byrne told Osin Clark BL that he and his sister Maria and their mother lived together in Cabra, Dublin. She said Paget was a caretaker at a neighbor’s house and everyone knew him.
He said on one occasion that Paget had invited her to “a reading” and he thought it was a divination and that he would know his future. He said that during the shoot, Paget started talking about his father and then told him, “Your father said you are to give me €10,000,” reports RTE.
When asked why he gave him the money, Byrne told the jury, “I believed my father told him to give me the money, I believed it.”
When asked, Paget told Gardaí that he was known to the public as a “when are you getting the money” and told him, “if you don’t, it will be a sin and the devil will get you”. He said that he later gave her €10,000 cash in an envelope after withdrawing it from his bank account,” reports RTE.
Mr Byrne read the victim’s statement saying he was very depressed and had sleepless nights after the crime. She said it was very upset with his father and considered Paget to be “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 be would be a sin on my soul and I would go to hell if I didn’t give her the money. “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,” Mr Byrne said,” reports RTE.
Mr Clark confirmed there was no evidence of where the money had gone. He acknowledged that the car and the loan had been mentioned during the trial, but said there was no “concrete evidence” from the prosecution as to where the money had gone.
Two women gave evidence on Paget’s behalf, describing her as “funny and resilient” and spoke of Paget’s sadness when her youngest daughter died when she was born with cystic fibrosis at the age of eight. Paget wrote a book about a child’s near-death experiences.
Defense attorney Karl Monahan BL said his client had a terrible family life, witnessed domestic violence and was “a cruel and sadistic” mother. She eventually ran away from home at the age of 14 and stayed in a shelter for young girls until she was 17.
Paget was put on methadone after giving birth to her youngest daughter and being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, Mr Monahan said.
The lawyer said Paget had become addicted to methadone but had not used any other drugs. He was devastated by the death of his daughter in 1999.
Judge Pauline Codd said it was clear from Mr Byrne’s behavior in court that he was a sensitive person. She said Paget had told him that his deceased father had told her that if Mr Byrne did not give her €10,000 “the devil would take his soul”.
“Far from offering him spiritual comfort, she devised a make-believe threat to his soul,” Judge Codd said before she added that it doesn’t matter that the threat seemed “fantastical” because Mr Byrne believed it to be true and felt obligated to hand over the cash. 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 Pauline Codd said, reports RTE.
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