Man who forged signatures of his co-directors given suspended 12-month sentence

By Isabel Hayes

A Peace Commissioner and architectural engineer who forged the signatures of his co-directors, has been given a suspended 12-month sentence and disqualified from being a director of a company for a period of five years.

Patrick O’Connor (75), of The Square, Ashford, Co Wicklow, told investigators he didn’t have time to make it down to Wexford or another part of Dublin to get the signatures of his two fellow directors of the company they were forming – JP&P Property Limited – and so he forged their signatures with their consent.

He pleaded guilty to one count of providing false information under the Companies Act on a date in 2022.

He has a small number of previous convictions for road traffic offences.

The court heard that the forged signatures were discovered by officers from the Corporate Enforcement Authority who were investigating a separate “widescale breach” of the Companies Act.

One of the directors whose signatures was forged had previously been disqualified from acting as a company director, Sergeant Colm Finnerty previously told Joe Mulrean BL, prosecuting.

Both of the co-directors in question are before the courts on a separate matter.

Darren Lalor BL, defending, told the court during a previous sentence hearing that O’Connor is a Peace Commissioner.

Peace Commissioners are appointed by the Minister for Justice and their duties include signing certificates and orders as well as taking statutory declarations.

O’Connor is also heavily involved with his local GAA and charity work, alongside his work as an architectural engineer, the court heard.

Imposing sentence today, Judge Orla Crowe noted O’Connor was a Peace Commissioner and was a person who was trusted.

She noted he was ashamed of what he did and signed a guilty plea. She said the aggravating factor was that it was done deliberately and as a Peace Commissioner he was a person in a position of trust.

“The gardai are to be commended for the level of care they put into the investigation,” she said.

The court previously heard that in October 2022, O’Connor filed an A1 form with the Companies Registration Office (CRO), which contained the forged signatures of his two co-directors. It was flagged by investigators shortly afterwards.

When interviewed by investigators, the other two directors each confirmed that it was not their signature on the application.

JP&P Ltd never got off the ground as a business and never engaged in trading, the court heard.

When questioned by investigators, O’Connor told them that the two other men knew he was signing their signatures as he didn’t have time to travel to them.

“I filled that out from start to finish,” he said of the form.

Defence counsel said O’Connor previously worked for the Office of Public Works and ESB. The company he was planning on starting related to shepherd huts and glamping pods in Wicklow.

O’Connor had previously worked with one of the other directors in a similar business, the court heard.

Mr Lalor said O’Connor had made a “foolish mistake”, but that it was not his intention to defraud anyone.

“He is ashamed at this stage of his life to be involved in something like this,” counsel said.

He said the matter was initially before the District Court, but that the judge refused jurisdiction.

He urged Judge Crowe to consider dealing with it by way of Section 100 of the Criminal Justice Act, which involves lesser penalties.

Judge Crowe said she did not currently think that was appropriate, but that she would consider the submissions made.

She said there were “troubling aspects” to the case, including that O’Connor was a Peace Commissioner, that two directors’ signatures were forged and that one of those directors was disqualified.

Today, the judge said the maximum sentence was five years imprisonment but set a headline sentence of 18 months.

She reduced it to 12 months and suspended in full.

She disqualified him from being the director of a company for a period of five years.