Josh Spurling Victim Of City Centre Scam

Josh with his mum, Ruth…

e’ve known Joshua Spurling ever since he was a little nipper, wishing Ben 10 lived in Greystones and that every day could be Pizza Truck Day.

So, when we heard from his mum, Ruth, that he’d been the victim of a scam in Dublin yesterday, we fair near grabbed the big stick and headed into town.

It was enough of a horrible scam to have an upset mother on Joe Duffy’s Liveline this afternoon, Ruth laying out just what happened to her 23-year-old Down Syndrome son on Tuesday. Joe reckons it was nothing short of a kidnapping.

Having headed into town on a college trip, Josh went off to get a bite to eat after and to check out the shops. Something he’s been doing for many a year, being the independent young man about town that he is.

It was in a shop near O’Connell Bridge that he was approached by two young women who claimed to be very hungry and that they needed some money for food. Explaining that he only had a bank card, as the duo pushed Josh to withdraw money the manager of the shop intervened and send the ladies on their way.

Only they were waiting for Josh outside, and soon had him at the GPO ATM, where they promptly withdrew €500.

According to later report from the bank, they made five more attempts to get money but had hit the card’s limit set by Ruth. And besides, Josh had a bus to catch and he wasn’t about to miss it. Even if the girls did plead for him to now bring them for something to eat.

“Out of a very definite routine, Josh went to Stephen’s Green, and got on his bus home,” explains Ruth. “When he finally called me – I think he was in shock, basically – he seemed pretty calm, stating that these two blonde ladies had only gotten a few fivers.

“When I asked why he hadn’t gone to anyone for help, he told me that he spoken to the doorman at The Shelbourne about it.”

“They effectively kidnapped your son for 35 minutes,” offered Joe Duffy after Ruth laid out all the details.

“The thing is, Josh really believed that these girls were hungry, and he wanted to help,” continues Ruth. “When we spoke with other kids from the college, and their parents, it turned out that the same exact thing had happened the day before…”

Suggesting that this was not the first time this scam on vulnerable young adults had been pulled.

“It’s shocking, sad and upsetting,” finishes Ruth. “And we’re just glad it’s over…”

Update: On Thursday 23rd Jan 2025, Gardaí arrested two teenage girl in relation to this and other similar incidents on the 20th and 21st, and they were charged with the theft on Josh in court on Monday, January 27th.