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Irish travelling conman, Felix Moorehouse, fined by Teresa Mullan 11 March 2014
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travelling Irish conman who has returned to Australia, Felix Moorehouse (pictured right), has been ordered to pay $35,415 fines and costs by Parramatta Local Court. Mr Moorehouse has demonstrated by his actions that dealing with him may cause a detriment to consumers. He is on a visitor visa and accordingly, is not permitted to work. Felix Moorehouse, age 34, who also goes by the name Felix Welish, was convicted this month of five offences, one under the Australian Consumer Law and four under the Home Building Act 1989, over an incident at South Penrith in September 2011. On 10 June 2011, Mr Moorehouse was issued with $1,900 in penalty infringement notices by NSW Fair Trading, in relation to unlicensed building work at Concord. He has not paid those fines. Mr Moorehouse is a member of a large, family-based gang of conmen who move between Ireland and Australia. On 21 September 2011, Felix Moorehouse approached a woman at her South Penrith home with an offer to carry out repairs to and paint the roof of her residence for $2,500. The woman had just moved into the home and was reluctant to have
any work done, so she declined the offer. Mr Moorehouse persisted for about 20 minutes, saying he would clean the roof and give it three coats of paint and sealant. He appealed to the woman on the grounds that he had a hungry family to feed and needed money. After the woman went inside her home, telling Mr Moorehouse to leave his number as she didn’t like being put on the spot, Mr Moorehouse further lobbied the woman’s friend outside the home and reduced his price to $2,300. He gave the woman a flyer with a contact phone number on it. He said he would also “throw
in” the garage and pressure clean the roof tiles, fix ridge capping and paint and seal tiles on the house and the garage. Eventually the resident agreed to have repairs done and painting to the roof for $2,300. She said she would call Mr Moorehouse to arrange a time. Five days later, Mr Moorehouse arrived at the premises unannounced with two other Irish men and commenced work on the roof. The woman was alarmed at their sudden appearance but Mr Moorehouse assured her they would have the job completed the same day. All the men had strong
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Irish accents. Over the ensuing hours, water began leaking from a light fitting in the house while one of the men was pressure cleaning the roof. The men told her there were loose tiles on the roof and that was the cause of the leak. After returning mid-afternoon, the woman found the men had left the property, leaving grey paint splashed on the walls of the house, garage and on the decking and what appeared to be grey paint in the swimming pool. She also found a hose running heavily on the front lawn and water running into her neighbour’s front yard. Beer had been stolen from a fridge and consumed in the woman’s back yard with the men leaving beer bottles and other empty cans of pre-mixed alcoholic drinks strewn about the backyard. Empty bottles of beer had been put in the fridge with lids on them. A fourth man subsequently appeared at the woman’s door and demanded payment for the jobs done. The woman said the jobs appeared to be sub-standard and she wanted to contact a local tradesman for an appraisal. Mr Moorehouse and his two associates then appeared, with all four men demanding money from the woman. By this stage the woman had become considerably alarmed. The men demanded an immediate $1,000 payment and said they would return later for the rest of the money. Her friend handed them $1,000 cash and they left the
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premises. Later that evening, the woman noticed several missed calls from Mr Moorehouse on her mobile phone. The number was on the flyer Mr Moorehouse has given her. She then received another phone call from Mr Moorehouse demanding the rest of the payment, which she refused to do. Instead, the woman employed licensed tradesmen to inspect her property and learnt that the work Mr Moorehouse and his colleagues had undertaken was of an extremely poor standard, with parts of the roof unpainted and unsealed. The woman contacted NSW Fair Trading, with investigators confirming Mr Moorehouse did not hold the relevant licence for the work he had undertaken and was not entitled to work on his visa. Mr Moorehouse left Australia on 7 November 2011. Australian immigration authorities in Melbourne permitted his re-entry on 17 January this year, where he was served with court attendance notices in relation to the South Penrith offence. He did not appear in court this month and was convicted ex-parte. Mr Moorehouse’s brother, Geremia (aka Jerry) Moorehouse, was convicted on 18 November 2011 of home building offences over a separate incident and ordered to pay $2,231 fines and costs by Parramatta Local Court. Geremia Moorehouse quoted for roof restoration work at Yagoona for $1,400, then $800, in September 2011. The work was defective.
Moorehouse was also prosecuted by police in January and convicted of Crimes Act offences and ordered to pay $1,862 fines and costs. Geremia Moorehouse was born in Ireland and came to Australia on a tourist visa. He departed Australia on 5 November 2011. Felix Moorehouse pleaded guilty in Cork Circuit Criminal Court in Ireland in 2005 to deception, after he admitted taking EUR 5,000 from a Cork farmer to paint some of his farm buildings. He received a two year suspended sentence with a good behaviour bond and he paid €2,000 compensation to the victim. Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said the Moorehouse brothers were known to associate with other travelling conmen who have been prosecuted by NSW Fair Trading and all conmen would continue to be of interest to investigators. “The intimidating tactics Mr Moorehouse and his associates employ against often vulnerable members of the community are appalling,” he said. “They are a menace to the community and I urge anyone with information on Mr Moorehouse’s whereabouts to contact the Travelling Conmen national hotline on 1300 133 408. Visit the Stop Travelling Conmen Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ StopTravellingConMen and check the interactive map for reports of travelling conmen at www. stoptravellingconmen.org.