Man (46) who 'panicked' and faked documents to get €350k mortgage is spared jail

Kevin Davy (46) feared he would miss his chance to get on the property ladder because of his freelance work status when he created fake documents to get a mortgage.

Davy, of St Aongus Place, Tallaght admitted making and using a false P60, salary slips and bank and credit union statements.

He entered a guilty plea in March and when the case came back before Dublin District Court, Judge Bryan Smyth was told a community service report was positive and he was deemed suitable.

The judge ordered Davy to carry out 200 hours of work instead of nine months in jail.

Previously, Detective Garda Michael McGrath said Davy went to Permanent TSB bank in Tallaght on November 1, 2019 to make the application.

The bank had “misgivings” and contacted the gardaí.

The accused made full admissions, saying he had been renting and wanted to own his own property but knew the bank would not give him a mortgage because he was self-employed. He had no previous convictions.

Davy had abandoned the application and there was no loss to the bank, defence solicitor Niall Walsh said.

The accused worked in the “journalistic field” with an established employment history and clean bill of health with revenue, but had been watching property prices rising, Mr Walsh said.

He got into a “state of panic”, worried he would miss his opportunity to get on the property ladder and “made a very, very poor decision” to generate the documents and misrepresent his employment status.

He would have been able to repay the mortgage if he had drawn it down, as the payments were less than his rent.

It was “more an exploratory application than anything else” but it was “incredibly stupid”, Mr Walsh said.