Courts / Dublin / Report
Harassment trial hears evidence of common "literary features"
Summary
In a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court trial, Detective Sergeant Eve Doherty (49) denies harassing Elizabeth Howlin, a former DPP officer, between September 2011 and March 2013. Doherty is accused of sending abusive letters and emails, calling Howlin a "corrupt bitch" and "incompetent useless hobbit," and of making false statements that Howlin was perverting the course of justice. The material, including A4 posters, alleged Howlin was a political appointee who would "pull" files to protect those connected to her or the Government. On day eleven, civilian Gardai member Suzanne Lindsay presented a linguistic analysis of the documents, identifying 60 literary features common to both the "Liz Howlin" documents and suspect documents linked to Doherty. These features included spelling and punctuation errors, repeated insults, and claims of nepotism, waste of taxpayer money, and calls for EU intervention. The trial continues before Judge Melanie Greally and a jury, with Mr O'Higgins expected to cross‑examine Ms Lindsay tomorrow.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Harassment trial hears evidence of common "literary features". Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- September 2011 Other
- March 2013 Other
- September 28, 2013 Other
- 2017-07-25 Publication
Case subjects
Accused
Outcome: Other punctuation features common to both sets of documents included use of the ampersands, capitalised words mid-sentence, words in bold, starting sentences with the word "And" and "Also", underlining and bolding of words or phrases and entire paragraphs in block capitals.
Places mentioned
Topics
Harassment Stalking Stage Sentence
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