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Closing speeches in harassment trial
Summary
In a 14‑day trial, Detective Eve Doherty, 49, denies harassing State solicitor Elizabeth Howlin from September 2011 to March 2013 and making false statements in March 2013 that Howlin was perverting justice. Howlin, who worked with the Director of Public Prosecutions, received letters, emails and A4 posters calling her a "corrupt bitch" and "incompetent useless hobbit", and falsely claiming she was a political appointee who would "pull" files to protect people linked to her or the Government. Doherty admitted sending an email from a Hushmail account while in a Wired internet café on 29 September 2013, but argued it was a protected disclosure and not harassment. Prosecutor Kerida Naidoo presented circumstantial evidence that all communications came from the same source and contained personal details only a small group could know, suggesting jealousy as motive. The jury will deliberate on Monday under Judge Melanie Greally.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Closing speeches in harassment trial. Procedural stage: trial
When:
- September 2011 Hearing Or Sentence
- March 2013 Hearing Or Sentence
- September 29, 2013 Other
- 2017-07-29 Publication
Why: He added that this didn't mean people could ventilate whatever they wanted to say without recourse because there were libel laws if you defamed somebody. CNI source report
Case subjects
Accused
Places mentioned
Topics
Harassment Stalking Stage Trial
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