Limerick paramedic to pay colleague €5,000 after harassment
Troubled history: Robert Murphy who placed an iPhone in a unisex toilet
A Limerick ambulance driver who placed an iPhone in a unisex toilet at the HSE ambulance base in Tyone, Nenagh, has been ordered to pay his female victim €5,000 in compensation.
Robert Murphy, 51, of 1 Lissanalta Grove, Dooradoyle, Limerick, had pleaded at Nenagh Court last December to harassment of the woman on May 5, 2012. He had placed the iPhone in record mode in a box of gloves that had holes in it.
Judge Elizabeth MacGrath had adjourned the case to March 8, and at last Friday’s court she adjourned the case for a further six months for an updated probation report and ordered that the issue of compensation be addressed.
However, she warned that compensation will not influence her decision when the case returns to court next October 18.
“There is often public disquiet that compensation can buy your way out of your problem in court, but that is not the case. It is an acknowledgment of the damage done to her (the victim). It will not have an impact on what I deem to be an appropriate penalty in due course,” said the judge.
Judge MacGrath stated she will finalise the matter on October 18, pointing out it was “not good to have it hanging over his head”.
She agreed that Mr Murphy was at a low risk of re-offending.
Earlier, Mr Murphy’s solicitor, Dan O’Gorman, referring to the defendant’s “troubled history” had appealed for the case to be put back for a further six months to allow for compensation to be addressed. The case returns to Nenagh Court on October 18. 2013.
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