Woman to be sentenced over abandoned baby claims

A Dublin woman, who falsely claimed that a newborn baby was concealed in a Ballymun flat, has been remanded on continuing bail for sentencing pending a psychiatric report.

Ann Lynch, (aged 36), with addresses at Fortlawn Avenue and Whitestown Avenue, Blanchardstown, pleaded guilty on two counts of making hoax phone calls on October 28, 2003 which exacerbated a frantic Garda search for a newborn baby.

Ms Lynch also pleaded guilty on other counts including making nuisance phone calls to Santry Garda Station on July 18 and 19, 2002.

Judge Yvonne Murphy looked for a psychiatric report from Roselawn Clinic where Miss Lynch is attending.

The judge also asked for a probation report as well as proof that she had taken steps to deal with her alcohol abuse for Miss Lynch’s case to be assessed for sentencing at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on May 31.

Det Gda PJ Walsh from Ballymun Garda Station told the court that she had pleaded guilty to making false phone calls to the station and apologised for wasting time when arrested.

The court heard that the gardaí had been alerted after another woman, not Ms Lynch, had contacted the Samaritans Helpline in relation to the abandonment of a baby in the Ballymun flats on October 27, 2003.

However, Ms Lynch then made a series of phone calls to the station which exacerbated the ongoing search. She called around six times on October 28, 2003, in a distraught state crying and saying she was in one of the Ballymun towers with the newborn baby, who was not breathing.

The court heard that gardaí searched 3,000 dwellings in Ballymun flats including 750 boarded up and vacant flats over three days, at an estimated cost of €75,000.

Det Gda PJ Walsh said Ms Lynch left a trail for them to catch her through using her mobile phone.

The court heard that the explanation she gave for the calls was she was suffering from “depression” and loneliness. Counsel said that during garda interviews, she replied: “I wasn’t looking for media attention just a voice, someone to talk to.”

After she was asked was it an addiction, she said: “I don’t know.”

Det Gda Walsh agreed that Ms Lynch had indicated she was sorry and ashamed.

She has been charged with making a false report to gardaí on October 28, 2003 contrary to Section 12 (a) of the Criminal Law Act. Ms Lynch was also charged with making a telephone call that she knew to be false on the same date contrary to Section 13 (1) of the Post Office (Amendment) Act.

Before the calls in relation to the search for the baby, the court heard that Ms Lynch had made a around 104 nuisance calls to Santry Garda Station between July 18 and 19, 2002.

Ms Lynch was charged with using the telephone system to “cause annoyance, nuisance or needless anxiety” on July 18 and 19, 2002.

After Ms Lynch was arrested she apologised and accepted that she had made the phone calls. The court heard that most of the calls were silent, with breathing and the only conversation was of a drunken confused nature.

Sgt Martin Drew of Santry Garda Station told the court that Ms Lynch also made four false reports in relation to Raheny starting on February 24, 2002 and running through to August of that year.

He told the court that Ms Lynch made a 999 operator call falsely reporting a shooting at a house in Raheny in the area where she used to live. She also reported a stabbing, a caravan on fire and a blaze at a house – which all had to be investigated.

The sergeant told the court that she had previous convictions for larceny, three counts of criminal damage including arson after she set fire to bins.

The court heard that the 999 operators believed the calls may have been fake and said the caller sounded drunk.

Counsel for Ms Lynch, Caroline Biggs, told the court that the defendant had made no attempts to cover her trail, leaving her name on her voicemail, and continuing to use the phone.

The sergeant said: “I think she had a problem with drink.”

Ms Biggs SC told the court that she had not benefited from the calls, had co-operated and pleaded guilty. She said that Ms Lynch, who was now seeking psychiatric help, had been placed in a slow learning school, had been described as an imbecile, had been mainly rejected by her family and had been living in a caravan at the time of the incidents.

Ms Biggs SC told the court that a psychiatric assessment had found her in a depressed state and her mother had died around the time of the offences.