Michael Shine granted bail pending conviction and sentence appeals

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

The Court of Appeal granted Michael Shine bail pending his appeals against conviction and sentence on 21 December 2017. Mr Justice Alan Mahon delivered the decision, sitting with Mr Justice John Edwards and Mr Justice John Hedigan. The proceedings were reported on 21 December 2017.

Shine pleaded not guilty to eight counts of indecent assault involving six patients at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and his private clinic in Drogheda, Co Louth, between 1964 and 1991. On 2 November 2017, a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury convicted him of offences involving two 15-year-old boys in the 1970s. One count was withdrawn from the jury, which acquitted him on four counts and returned majority guilty verdicts on three.

The Court of Appeal judgment says two consecutive 10-month prison terms, totalling 20 months, were imposed on 1 December 2017. Shine appealed both conviction and sentence.

Shine’s lawyers contended that two of 17 appeal grounds presented a strong possibility of overturning the convictions. On one ground, Hugh Hartnett SC argued that evidence of three complainants’ civil settlements with the hospital was highly prejudicial. Bernard Condon SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said it was permitted to show the complainants were not financially motivated. The court accepted a strong chance of success on that ground, while saying the issue must await a full appeal hearing.

The court considered it strongly arguable that the sentence was unduly harsh and said it might be served before the appeals could be heard. Bail required a €1,000 bond, residence at his Dublin home, attendance at court, no travel outside the jurisdiction or application for a passport, and weekly sign-on at Donnybrook Garda station on Wednesdays between 9am and 3pm. If illness prevented sign-on, a satisfactory medical certificate had to be provided. He was also required to expedite his appeals.