Laura Brophy rejects deliberate defamation of Maurice McCabe

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

HSE psychologist Laura Brophy told the Charleton Tribunal she would never deliberately take part in defaming Sergeant Maurice McCabe. The proceedings were reported on 5 July 2017. The tribunal was examining claims that sexual abuse allegations had been used as part of a campaign to damage his reputation.

Brophy had previously told the tribunal that she incorrectly described allegations in a report she wrote in 2013, making them more serious. The report said a word-processing error had inserted details from an unrelated historical-abuse investigation. Brophy said she made efforts to correct the information and changed her working practices after the error was discovered.

Michael McDowell SC, acting for McCabe, said that although the abuse allegation had been amended, a sentence alleging that McCabe had threatened to kill the father of Ms D if she spoke to anyone remained on Garda records. Brophy said it was the first time she had heard this. Tribunal barrister Diarmaid McGuinness SC said the error was made by Tusla when amending the files and had nothing to do with Brophy.

The tribunal also heard that reporting forms and procedures had changed. Fiona Ward said clients could now review reports for accuracy before they were sent.