A ROGUE GARDENER in Dublin conned a woman online out of €2,000 for work he never carried out, a court has heard.

Father of two, Gavin Smith, 35, of Huntstown Wood, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty to deception today.

Dublin District Court heard that Smith, a convicted money launderer, was contacted by the unsuspecting victim through the Adverts.ie website on 3 September 2021.

She asked him to work on her back garden, was quoted a fee and paid a €2,000 deposit, but Judge Michele Finan heard Smith “failed to carry out the work”. After several weeks, he refunded her half the money, but never paid the rest back.

Smith, with 18 prior criminal convictions, including money laundering, was jailed last year and will remain in custody until next year. He was not charged with the offence until May this year.

Defence solicitor Daniel Hanahoe told Judge Finan his client’s mother had died shortly beforehand. He also began using cocaine.

Hanahoe submitted a letter from his client about his progress since the offence. The judge described it as “excellent”, adding that it should be forwarded to the victim, who did not have to attend the hearing.

Judge Finan said the offence was at the more serious end of the scale and noted Smith “interacted with someone, made a promise and took money”.

Noting his guilty plea and efforts at rehabilitation, she imposed a five-month sentence backdated to 2 May, when he was charged, sparing him additional prison time.