‘Cold caller type’ offender sentenced

Damian Peter Loughran (36), of Jubilee Park, Cookstown, admitted two charges at East Tyrone Magistrates Court on Friday of making false representations to a local man relating to completing work at his home and that his child had cancer, to make a gain for himself. He also admitted engaging in a commercial practice which was aggressive in contravention of the Consumer Protection Unfair Trading Regulations.

A PPS lawyer said the charges arose after Loughran answered an ad on social media from the injured party seeking clearance work carried out.

A defence lawyer said while it was accepted the defendant has a poor record, he did pay back the £250 owed to the victim. District Judge Michael Ranaghan said at least Loughran had paid the money back to the victim.

Editor’s message:

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a copy of the paper. You can also support trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription of the News Letter.