Eve Doherty pleads not guilty to harassment and false-statement charges

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Eve Doherty pleaded not guilty to all charges. The proceedings were reported on 12 July 2017. Her trial was continuing before Judge Melanie Greally and a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Doherty, a Dublin-based garda, was charged with harassing Elizabeth Howlin between September 2011 and March 2013. She was also charged with making false statements on 1 March and 31 March 2012 claiming that Howlin had attempted to pervert the course of justice.

Howlin, then a directing officer with the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the jury that abusive letters and emails had been sent to her home, workplace and GP over an 18-month period. The material claimed she was a political appointee who would interfere with prosecution files. She said the allegations were untrue, although some personal details were accurate, and that the material had upset her and affected her confidence and peace of mind.

In March 2012, a resident found posters around Howlin’s estate in Blackrock, Dublin, alleging that her neighbours, the Martin family, were drug dealers and that Howlin had protected them from prosecution. Pat Martin told the trial his family were not drug dealers and Howlin had no involvement in his son’s cannabis possession case. Patricia Martin said their son had pleaded guilty; she agreed that the case was struck out without a conviction. Defence counsel Michael O’Higgins said he was not suggesting Howlin had played a part in that.