Worker was suspended after false heroin claim

A member of staff at a nursing home was suspended for two weeks after an anonymous tip that she was on heroin but it later emerged that the claim was entirely false.

Det Garda Seán Leahy outlined the background to this case at Cork Circuit Criminal Court where 59-year-old Margaret Walsh pleaded guilty to a charge of making a false report.

The charge specified that Walsh, of 18 Heffernan’s Terrace, Castlemartyr, Co Cork, made a phonecall which caused needless annoyance, inconvenience, and anxiety to another person on April 1, 2016.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin imposed a one-year jail sentence suspended for one year, describing it as a bizarre offence.

Det Sgt Leahy said it would not have occurred but for the fact Walsh was abusing alcohol at the time. Defence barrister Ray Boland said the defendant was no longer drinking and there had been no further difficulties for the injured party since April.

There was a background to the offence where the defendant knew the injured party.

As a result of the complaint made to the woman’s employer that the nursing home staff member was on heroin she was suspended for two weeks and sent for urinalysis which showed she was clear of all drugs.

It later became clear to gardaí that Walsh had made the call, which was untrue.

“Is there a risk of it happening again?” the judge asked Det Sgt Leahy, who replied, “No, not if she stays off drink.”

The judge said it must have been a humiliating experience for the injured party to be investigated for something that was totally without foundation.